Era of Change II Army of the Void
by Rhys Davies
Summary: The Gundam pilots and Transformers thought their battle was over-they thought wrong, for War is coming, and the epic is just beginning...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer:  
  
This all belongs to me, if you believe the following;  
  
In an infinite universe there are infinite worlds. Concordantly in an infinite world all things are not only possible but real. Ergo, there is a world where 'Era of Change' is reality. Visa/vi, somewhere one Rhys Davies is sole owner and proprietor of 'Gundam Wing' and 'Transformers.' Go Figure.  
  
However, to please the lawyers, I will say I do not own the components of the following;  
  
Gundam Wing, Transformers, The Matrix Trilogy, Hunt for Red October, Jurassic Park, And all and sundry contained herein. They are the property of those that created them; that is the public safety message for this fic.  
  
Now, if that 60% of the worlds lawyers who live in the USA are content, we may begin...  
  
EXT. SKY  
  
With a piercing crack the heavens are parted by lightening, God's hand upon the Earth. Around us, raindrops crash down, splattering against the camera.  
  
Ominously, the soundtrack begins to build, a rising percussion beat.  
  
EXT. CITY STREET  
  
Puddles cover the tarmac, as the rain thunders down, casting up tiny rockets and waves of liquid.  
  
A foot breaks into view, parting the liquid like the waves before Moses.  
  
PULL-BACK.  
  
A shadowed figure walks the street, sodden. Water streams down his face but oddly, his hair is not lank, standing proud above his brow.  
  
As he walks down the centre of the road, we see figures motionless in the background. Beyond them are shop-fronts, each filled with computer-screens, white and blue web-pages blinking on them, scrolling through infinite reams of text.  
  
Fanfiction.net. This is the mainframe, where it all comes together.  
  
CLOSEUP ON FIGURE  
  
Sunglasses ride on a wet face, pale with months away from the sun, sullen with hours of typing, flabby with lack of exercise. The body however, walks with pride, though a belly shows through the soaked T-Shirt that clings to the skin. From his shoulders hangs a leather jacket, battered sneakers protrude from faded jeans.  
  
This person looks round, then up.  
  
EXT. FIGURE'S POV  
  
The soundtrack suddenly whips up into a chanting choir, beating a Latin chant into our ears.  
  
Faces stare down from the buildings that line the street, people of every race, sex and build staring down; watching, waiting.  
  
PAN DOWN  
  
We finally see the people that straddle us; likewise, they vary, but each head hangs low, the eyes closed, lidded, dormant. A tall man passes, platinum-blonde hair hanging down past his shoulders. An auburn-headed youth, distinguished by a three-foot braid, various women, their hair yellow, black, red...purple?  
  
We know these people.  
  
CLOSEUP – FIGURE  
  
He turns his eyes from the sleeping characters of 'Gundam Wing' and stares straight into camera.  
  
EXT. FIGURE'S POV.  
  
Ahead, the street ends in the feet of giant robots that bar the way, but like the humans, they sleep, undisturbed by the downpour that breaks across their shoulders.  
  
Between the titanic figures of Optimus Prime and Megatron, a male figure steps into view. Unlike our protagonist, he wears a suit; impeccably groomed, auburn hair brushed back from the brows, an arrogant smirk on his face, hands clasped aggressively at his side.  
  
CLOSEUP  
  
This man stops and stares towards us, opens his mouth and speaks.  
  
MAN: Rhys Davies, welcome back...we missed you.  
  
PAN TO DAVIES:  
  
He smiles back, smiles sardonically.  
  
DAVIES: I believe I know you...I see you've borrowed a body for this...chat, Microwave Jockey.  
  
MICROWAVE-JOCKEY: The Matrix section is down for upgrades; Agent Smith won't be needed for a few hours.  
  
DAVIES: How did you know I'd be in the FF.Net mainframe tonight.  
  
M-J: You forget...You told me. That's why the crowds have gathered; we wait for you, the one who's kept us waiting for so long.  
  
Davies holds up a floppy disk; scribbled on it is the legend 'Era of Change I & II'.  
  
DAVIES: Then wait no-more. My second era is nearing. War's beat will follow revolution, swords will be shaken and blood spilt in the coming months.  
  
Jockey is puzzled for a second.  
  
M-J: War with whom?  
  
DAVIES: With he who nears this Earth with retribution in his soul; the ultimate clash between good and evil.  
  
M-J: Then it is time?  
  
DAVIES: Soon. The first shall be posted tonight, the second in the next two-weeks. Then once again, you wait. But by the end of September, God willing, my epic will be complete, and the third age will come to pass.  
  
M-J: Then let us begin.  
  
And so...we shall.  
  
From the hand of Rhys Byron Davies,  
  
Inspired by 'Gundam Wing' and 'Transformers',  
  
A Fanfiction.net publication.  
  
ERA OF CHANGE 2: THE ARMY OF THE VOID.  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
Distant, remote, a forgotten place and time. Two giant stars forever locked in embrace, one a blooming violet, the other smaller, denser, hued in angry red.  
  
Coiling streams of plasma burst from the two suns, flaring out and touching the other, tendril-like flames and bursts of radiation, forever pumping their primal power into this dead, unexplored region of space.  
  
The scant few million miles between the binary giants was a vortex of chaos, the empty vacuum crackling with energy; heat, light, radiation almost as intense as the cores of the giants. Like two opposing armies, they bombarded the no-mans land between them with everything in their arsenal, turning it into an irradiated, sickly tract of space that was uninhabitable to life.  
  
Yet today something was running the blockade.  
  
The burning light of the two stars created a sinuous pattern of light and shadow on the steel and bronze of this thing. Highlights bright enough to burn retinas danced across its smooth surface, while shadows blacker than night leaped up and consumed the light. Continents of metal glowed with the primal heat of this cauldron of life.  
  
As if enraged that something some pass them without regard, without respect; insulted that it should survive their battleground, the blue star let loose a salvo of plasma; superheated hydrogen blasted into space and bathed the intruder, which shook it off as a duck does water.  
  
Unperturbed, their course unshaken, mammoth engines drove the life that did not live and could not die onwards, beyond the binary system and out into the outer spirals of the galaxy.  
  
If it were possible to fly in a direct course ahead of the relentless force, one would pass planets, worlds, stars; all the wonders of the would unfurl in a kaleidoscopic display that could not be rivalled. Nebulae, vast clouds of dust reflected the power of stars in a massive 'northern lights' effect. Infinite galaxies were wiped out in a second as their suns burned their brightest and were then extinguished forever. Comets and asteroids pelted the void, death-traps for the unwary space traveller. Suns of all colours would pass, red blue, green, silver and gold.  
  
But the further one would go towards the edge of the galaxy, the more these wonders would begin to thin out. All the colours of the spectrum faded and died until all that could be seen would be an inky blackness, dotted with pinpricks of silver. Still beautiful, yet cold, unfeeling, seemingly devoid of life.  
  
Save for one place. Far out, in what one author had mockingly dubbed 'the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy' - the backwater of the universe, and there, orbiting a small yellow star, there lies a tiny blue and green planet. How this author had been able to apply north, south, east and west to a universe that had no poles and consequently no bearings is not known, but his description of the impact the planet Earth and its inhabitants had had on the affairs of the universe rang true; 'Harmless'.  
  
'Mostly Harmless' would have been better (and indeed was) for the principle inhabitants of this planet were astounding in their way. Though a young species, they were proud and brave, determined to explore, reach out and touch the stars they saw in the heavens. They were quick to learn, and even quicker to solve problems with inventive solutions. Indeed, the technology of 'Homo Sapiens' would likely soon power them to the stars and beyond. And the field where most of this technology had developed, was the battlefield. War had shaped this world and changed its direction more than once. Humanity squabbled and fought among itself like dogs over a scrap of meat. Yet they still hoped for peace above all else. And perhaps, one day, they would achieve it.  
  
But in the malevolent mind of the ancient and powerful being that powered slowly but relentlessly towards it, Earth was just another entree on the menu of existence.  
  
No, the sole reason this evil as old as time itself was concerned with the third rock from the star Sol was that the sole power that could defeat him was in residence. That, and a certain something he desired returned to him.  
  
Then, Chaos would consume the universe. All worlds would be devoured, become part of him. The lifestain would be scrubbed clean. And then, in the empty and barren void, Unicron would reign supreme.

To be continued...


	2. Starting the Waltz

Disclaimer: I own none of this.  
  
CHAPTER ONE: STARTING THE WALTZ  
  
Benign blue skies smiled down on the continent of Europe. In the city of Brussels the streets buzzed with the activity you would expect from the world capital. Lawyers with new legislative proposals, stockbrokers running to see whose star had risen or fallen overnight on the stock exchange, tourists showing their children the city from which they were governed. For this crowd, there were three main attractions;  
  
The first (and most obvious) was the parliament itself. Formerly a mansion owned by the reclusive Romerfeller Foundation, the parliament building stood on an island in the middle of the river that bisected the city. Famous events that had occurred here included the creation of the United Earthsphere Alliance and more recently the Earthsphere United Nation. It was here where legendary statesman and general Treize Kushrenada had resigned from his position after a dramatic and moving presentation to Romerfeller, and it was here where a young girl had briefly reigned as Queen of the World. Though that particular office lasted for less than a month, the impact it had on the war that was being fought at the time was dramatic.  
  
The second was 'Gundam Plaza', which devoted itself to commemorating the events of that same war of AC195 and the December Revolution of AC196. Built during the reconstruction of Brussels after that short but violent war, the plaza stood over the spot where the famed Gundam mobile suits had made their last stand against the forces of the Barton Foundation. The large open square had metal plaques built into the surface, on which were listed the names of everyone who had died in the two conflicts. Bronze models of the Zodiac class of mobile suits stood on pedestals around the square, and the fountain in the centre had a slightly larger statue showing the five Gundams themselves - Altron, Heavyarms, Sandrock, Deathscythe and Wing Zero. This was a popular place for parents to bring children to soak up the history of wars they had been too young to understand.  
  
The building that was rated top on the list of any tourist guide was of course, the Presidential Residence, nicknamed by some as 'White House II'. Like the original White House of Washington DC or 10 Downing Street in London, the building had a rapidly growing mythology and there was always a crowd at the gates, trying to catch a glimpse of the hub of government half a kilometre up the tree-lined drive.  
  
Like the rest of Brussels, the Residence had a connection to the wars of recent years. It was from here that the December Revolution had been conducted, and the final shot of that conflict was fired on the building.  
  
Today however, was a day of celebration. Crowds of guests drifted across the open lawn behind the building. Bunting and banners proclaiming 'Happy Birthday' decked the building's rear facade and trestle tables continually distributed an ample supply of food.  
  
One figure who was right in the middle of the crowd was an attractive girl currently helping herself to some of that food. Relena Dorlain sipped a glass of shiraz and chewed on a cocktail sausage as she observed the party. Dressed simply in jeans and a pullover, an observer would initially mark this girl as one of the guests, maybe the daughter of one of the ministers. That observer would have been very confused as other high-ranking government officials greeted her as they passed, a few stopping for brief conversations with the teenage Vice Foreign Minister.  
  
Eventually satisfying her hunger, Relena began to make her way through the guests searching for a particular man. Eventually she found him, an elderly gentleman playing with a young girl, who beamed as Relena approached them.  
  
"Hi Miss Relena!"  
  
She chuckled.  
  
"Hi Emily, you making sure your grandfather's behaving himself?"  
  
Emily nodded vigorously, her grin stretching from ear to ear. At that moment a young puppy ran up and started yapping around their ankles. Her attention diverted, Emily ran off after her pet, chasing him across the green lawn.  
  
President Stuart Parnell watched his granddaughter run off with amusement and affection in his eyes as he stood up. He was well into his fifties, and had been his granddaughter's only parental figure for many years, playing mother, father, grandmother and grandfather to the orphaned girl. Relena smiled with him as they watched her roll on the grass with the dog.  
  
"She's a sweet girl."  
  
"I know."  
  
After a few seconds, Parnell looked down at the youngest member of his cabinet.  
  
"So are you here just for the wine and canapes or is their something on your mind?"  
  
Relena nodded, her expression suddenly serious.  
  
"Yes, but I'd prefer if we talked about it indoors."  
  
Relena reclined back in the large navy couch and smiled slightly.  
  
"Well firstly, happy birthday Stu and I hope everything's gone well in my absence."  
  
In an armchair across from her Parnell smiled.  
  
"As well as can be without the brightest mind in my cabinet."  
  
Relena blushed at the praise and pulled a dossier from her bag.  
  
"This is the report I made during my month's absence. It's rather extensive so I'd like to give you a brief report of my own."  
  
Taking the thick dossier, Parnell nodded and laid it aside. He clasped his hands and sat back, waiting patiently. Relena sighed and rubbed her forehead.  
  
"Where to begin...Where to begin...Last October the Preventers were called out by an agent to a mining operation on Mt. St. Hillary in Oregon, USA. Blasting operations had revealed a series of artificial caverns within the volcano which the Preventers believed were part of a secret military base. A number of mecha were discovered in these tunnels and it was assumed they were either mobile suits or mobile dolls of some origin, but that assumption turned out to be incorrect..."  
  
The president held up a hand and Relena halted. Parnell smiled.  
  
"Firstly, you're getting worked up. Slow down a bit and take all the time you need. Secondly...what kind of mecha exist that can't be classified as MS or MD."  
  
Following his advice, Relena took a moment to catch her breath then continued.  
  
"The structure and the mecha were later verified as...alien."  
  
The transformation in the President's face was amusing to Relena. Humour and slight curiosity were replaced by confusion, then utter disbelief as the meaning of those words set in. Parnell leaned forward in his seat and looked like he was going to be sick. He opened his mouth to reply, but all he could get out was a strangled - "My God."  
  
Relena quickly left the room and came back with a beaker of water which she pressed into his hand. Grateful, Parnell sipped it and composed himself.  
  
"When you say alien you mean...extraterrestrial."  
  
"Yes, mankind has finally made contact with other life. The mecha turned out to be a race of sentient, living robots called the Transformers."  
  
Brain racing, Parnell looked up.  
  
"You mean...they were still alive?"  
  
"Yes...They were reactivated before we realised they were not normal machines."  
  
"Have you had trouble containing them?"  
  
"Some...but the majority have proven themselves as civil and willing to abide by our laws. The others...have been taken care of."  
  
The militant tone in her voice did not go unnoticed. Parnell looked at her for explanation. Relena started pacing slowly across the office, his eyes following her like he was at a tennis match.  
  
"When these transformers left their homeworld...which has since been destroyed, they were engaged in a civil war. Two factions, the Autobots and Decepticons, locked in a stalemate.  
  
The spacecraft we discovered was attacked and boarded during spaceflight some four million years ago. During the battle control was lost and it crashed to Earth, burying itself in St. Hillary.  
  
When the Transformers awoke and discovered that their planet, the reason for their war was destroyed, the majority were willing to settle their differences in the hope they could build a new home somewhere in the Earthsphere. The faction that did not left, attacked an interstate, built an army, then came back to kill all of us. We were forced to...respond with equal force."  
  
Parnell was once again shaking his head, then stopped, looked up slowly.  
  
"We? You...didn't, did you?"  
  
Relena grinned slightly, embarrassed and nodded.  
  
"In a way...I operated Wing Zero."  
  
Parnell chuckled, then burst out into laughter.  
  
"My God...the public would take news of aliens and UFOs in their stride, but if it got out that the 'Pacifist Princess' has fought in a mobile suit...a Gundam...Damn!"  
  
Relena started laughing as well, her bell-like chimes adding to his Oxford- accented chuckles.  
  
"Well, technically it wasn't piloting but..."  
  
After the giggling had ceased, the President of ESUN quickly got back on track.  
  
"How many people are in the know on this?"  
  
"Too many, though fate couldn't have dealt us a more capable team to deal with it. The five Gundam Pilots all know, six if you count my brother. Five other Preventers agents, Marimaia, the mining team, and a group of engineers who take undercover contracts for the Preventers. Some Winner Corporation staff have had contact but the handsome salaries Quatre delivers ought to inspire secrecy. The numerous people who witnessed the interstate attack were too distracted fleeing for their lives to notice anything untoward about the their attackers."  
  
Parnell listened and filed the information for further consideration later.  
  
"You said something about these...Transformers building a home in the Earthsphere...has a location been put forward?"  
  
"Yes actually, Quatre and I suggested..."  
  
Again, Parnell held up a hand.  
  
"I don't want to know, yet. Knowing you it'll be a good solution but radical enough to set me against it. Draw up detailed plans, feasibility studies, tie it all up with a few miles of red-tape and then present it to me."  
  
Pensive, Parnell leant forward, resting his chin on his hand as he thought. Thinking he wanted some privacy, Relena turned to leave.  
  
"You know of course I'm relocating you to act as government liaison to this project."  
  
Relena stopped, her hand on the doorknob; she slowly turned, and Parnell was able to see the slightly hopeful smile on her face.  
  
"I see it in your eyes everyday, weariness, isolation. Shoulders as young as yours were never meant to bear the weight of politics, and you've carried this burden for four years. You put in more hours and twice as much effort as any other minister, including myself. Any longer and you'll have grey hairs before this year's out."  
  
There was a moment's silence. Parnell stood up and smiled at her, holding the dossier against his hip.  
  
"You're young, and devoted to the Earthsphere, but you need to live the life of a normal teenager. Posting you to this project will allow you to do your part for the people and be around your best friends. Set yourself easy hours and do what kids your age do. Go get raving drunk at some seedy bar for all I care but have some fun."  
  
Relena nodded her head, her eyes shining and walked out the door. Parnell scratched his back of his head and smiled down at the dossier, glad that he had done right.  
  
Two seconds later, Relena darted back in through the door and hugged the taller man, who returned it, then stepped back and tousled her hair like a proud uncle.  
  
"I leave everything up to your judgement. If you think these Transformers are trustworthy, then I'll back you and them all the way."  
  
Relena leaned against the door, "It'll be alright. I trust the Transformers as much as I do the Gundam pilots."  
  
Parnell mimicked utter despair, "Then we're all doomed - I remember your American friend spiking the punch at the 197 New Years Eve party."  
  
She grinned back, "We were all blind drunk long before midnight weren't we."  
  
The CD case cracked open and removed the compact disk from within. Someone had scrawled '02's favourite tracks' across it with a thick marker pen. Long white fingers shoved the disk into the player and turned the volume up to the max.  
  
Duo Maxwell grinned and clicked his fingers as a heavy-metal tempo slammed at him from the speakers mounted around the cockpit of the Leo Mobile Suit. Electric guitars screamed and percussion bombed his world as he grabbed the collectives and grinned into the mouth-piece of his radio headset.  
  
"Right Ironhide; Bring it on."  
  
The steel face that filled the display screens broke into a grin and blue optics narrowed in mirth. As Duo rammed his weight against the twin controls he began screaming along to the lyrics.  
  
"Always...Noting on my time, a little left of centre now!"  
  
It made quite a sight from the outside. The olive-green Leo collided with bone-crunching force with the southern-spoken Autobot. Sparks flew as their metal chassis ground together and they wrestled each other into an arm- lock. Even from out here the echoes of 'Not Falling' by twenty-first century punk rock band 'Mudvayne' could be heard, driving more birds from the adjacent trees than the actual battle.  
  
"Reflect, as I realise..."  
  
One uppercut from the Leo snapped Ironhide's head back and the red Transformer stumbled back as Duo took up a fighting stance.  
  
"...That all I, need is to find - the middle-pillar path."  
  
Duo's off-key yowling was broken by the sight of Ironhide wiping a thin trail of lubricant from his mouth and smirking.  
  
"The only thing wurse' than yer' combat style is your taste in music."  
  
Unprovoked, Duo grinned back.  
  
"Oh you are so asking for it!"  
  
Once again the two wrestlers charged each other and locked hands, straining to push the other back, one a life-long soldier, the other a street-raised kid with a knack for piloting. It was an equal match. Metal buckled as they squeezed the other's hand, their feet dancing back and forth as they tried to gain advantage.  
  
"I, I'll stand, Not Crawling, Not falling down!"  
  
Ironhide quickly broken the stale-mate by transforming and using the weight of his vehicle-mode to override the mobile-suit. Duo countered by kicking the offending van over his head and planting it's bonnet in the ground behind him. With the familiar sound signature, Ironhide morphed back and tried to take Duo's machine out of commission with a punch to the balance gimble in the exposed back. Anticipating, Duo rolled back and the Autobot's fist sliced the air above him. The Leo reached up and seized Ironhide's arm at the elbow, yanking him down and pinning him to the ground with a move Duo had seen on WWE.  
  
As the final cords of Not-Falling played a car-horn sounded loudly and the two contenders fell apart, shattered, Ironhide standing back to allow Duo to climb out of the cockpit and catch his breath on the rim.  
  
A yellow Autobot who would have barely come up to the Leo's waist walked across the marked-out wrestling ground and declared the results.  
  
"And the winner, as judged by performance, technique and sheer style is...Shinigami, making both of our contenders equal after ten rounds in the ring. People, Transformers, give it up for your champions!"  
  
A small chorus of cheers rose up from the edge of the clearing, where Bumblebee's twin Cliffjumper had been watching from. Beside him were the Autobot brothers Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, while the two pint-sized Recordicons Rumble and Frenzy applauded, not caring who won as long as they saw a good fight. Cheering for Duo was his girlfriend, Hilde, currently with a large bandage wrapped around her head and leaning against a blonde youth who cheered just as loudly as the rest.  
  
The fight concluded, the five Autbots quickly tore out of the makeshift wrestling arena and burnt rubber back to their HQ some miles away.  
  
Duo jumped down from the Leo cockpit, high-fived Quatre Winner and swept Hilde into his arms, carrying her towards a US-army jeep that waited in the shadows of the trees. Chuckling, Quatre watched them as Rumble stood up and stretched, clicking the support-columns in his neck.  
  
"I assume that was good Quat?"  
  
"Brilliant Rumble, just brilliant. I've never seen a Leo pull moves like that. Hate to admit it, but Onslaught knew what he was doing when he re- engineered these suits."  
  
"Yeah, that's Onslaught. Loyal and dumb on the outside, but a sly glitch if I ever saw one!"  
  
Chuckling at the Cybertonian curse, Quatre scrambled up the leg of the Leo.  
  
"You and Frenzy need a lift back to the Ark?"  
  
The two cassettes looked up at the mighty suit with mixed awe and foreboding.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
Quatre yelled down as he booted up the suit.  
  
"Then jump on and hang tight!"  
  
With the same sound as the Transformers, the Leo shrank and twisted into a compact but lethal half-track. The two tapes climbed onto the tread covers nervously, the massive drive wheels spun, and the vehicle tore after the rapidly retreating Autobots.  
  
Seen from the air, Mt. St. Hillary looked...odd. Until a few months ago it had been an average and mostly ignored part of the local landscape, a cinder-cone volcano that had long burned out, its steep sides and long skree-slopes nearly impossible to climb.  
  
Now however the mountain had changed. An entire chunk of the lower southern flank had been destroyed (thanks to an errant fusion cannon), causing a slide which had collapsed the volcano's entire southern side as far up as the cone. Some distance below the point of disturbance and at the foot of the slide was a cluster of buildings, again, until recently a normal mine complex, now turned over to a very different objective. Construction equipment laboured all day and night on the northern side of the complex, drilling, blasting and excavating, before loading the waste into trains for dumping in the ocean.  
  
On this particular day, as the stars began to light the sky, the approaching convoy of Autobots, Decepticons and humans were treated to a magnificent sight.  
  
The arc lights mounted around the excavation and the headlights of the equipment lit up the underside of four giant nacelles that protruded from the collapse-zone. They were the only visible part of a much larger structure that lurked below the mountain's surface, and the first to be dug out by the relentless human engineers.  
  
'Engines, rocket exhausts for the first ever UFO in human history for which there is undeniable proof', though Duo as the jeep named Hound skidded through the gates around the complex. Not needed to actually drive the Autobot, Duo leant back and enjoyed the view as Hilde leant against his shoulder, her eyes closed in blissful sleep despite the rough ride.  
  
'The operation's left her weak, and all this recent activity must have drained her.' Happy and content, Duo stroked the smooth, unblemished skin of her cheek as they passed under the four bronzed, cannon-like engine manifolds and though a hatchway into the actual spaceship.  
  
The Ark. No matter how many times he saw it he would never cease to be amazed. Giant walls of metal rose up around him to a ceiling nearly a hundred feet above his head. There were no obvious lights, the walls, roof and floor seemed to glow of their own accord, a rich golden aura that filled the vessel with warmth and comfort. It was odd to think that this place was quickly becoming home to him.  
  
Hound skidded into the store-room that served as accommodation for the humans onsite, a store-room the size of a cathedral.  
  
Portacabins filled this space; lined up alongside streets big enough to drive through, stacked two on-top of each other with scaffolding holding up the necessary stairs. Everyday a new amenity was added to this small community within a community. Bar, nightclub, showers, even a small cinema. Not to mention the bunkrooms that most of the plastic structures were given over too, though more opulent accommodations were available for a lucky few.  
  
Hound pulled up outside one of these cabins. Duo thanked him and gently lifted the sleeping Hilde over the threshold. Hound's door shut of its own violation and he drove away with a cheerful beep on his horn.  
  
Inside, conditions were comfortable if not luxurious. There were two rooms, one containing a bed, vanity table and a sink, the other a fridge, couch and TV set. Duo laid Hilde down on the double-bed, pulled the blankets over her petite form and closed the door.  
  
Still exhilarated from the fight, Duo decided to walk-off his excess energy before heading back to sleep beside the girl he loved. Striking out in the vague direction of the bridge, hoping there was someone on watch to talk too, he was soon distracted by the sound of yelling and laughter.  
  
'Even at this time of night there's someone awake.'  
  
It was easy enough to trace the sound; though the corridors lit themselves the lighting dimmed in synch with the sunlight outside, all Duo had to do was follow the noise till he found a room with light creeping out from around the edge of the door, which slid open for him. What he found gave him a moments humour.  
  
Three structurally identical Transformers were seated around a projection screen, which was airing late-night human TV. The purple sigil of the Deceptions was proudly displayed on the large wings that projected from their backs, and their chests resembled the cockpits of jet planes. The principle Seeker (their designation), coloured red and silver sat in an metal chair in front of the screen, while the other two, midnight blue and jet black respectively, sat on the edge of the recharge bunk set against the far wall.  
  
All three were craned towards the screen, transfixed.  
  
Skywarp, the black jet, whooped suddenly in exhilaration - "Go on hit him, hit him!"  
  
On one of the armrests of the chair sat a single human figure, dressed in the black and tan uniform of a Preventer. His black hair was pulled back into a painfully small ponytail and his oriental eyes briefly flicked down to Duo as he came through the doorway.  
  
"Hey Guys, Wufei!" Duo yelled up in greeting. The blue Seeker, Thundercracker, ever the thoughtful one, leant down and lifted the American teen up to the position of his colleague as the youngest of the three, Skywarp yelled again - "Use the chair, GO ON!"  
  
Expecting to find WWE or one of the other wrestling channels on, Duo raised a surprised eye at Wufei Chang.  
  
"Jerry Springer re-runs?"  
  
Wufei nodded in reply, his face impassive, but Duo could see the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Duo looked at the screen again.  
  
"What's the topic?"  
  
As Skywarp continued to crow at the screen Starscream spoke out, amusement tingeing his words;  
  
"My mom won't let me sleep with Grandma."  
  
Chuckling, Thundercracker leant forward.  
  
"We were on the side of the son but it turns out Grandma's been dead for two months!"  
  
A sudden series of jeers went up from the screen and the five males leant forward to the screen, soaking up the violence, then sinking back disappointed as security guards pulled the contestants apart. The late Springer, (golden hair perfectly groomed) turned to the camera, dazzling viewers with a smile that contained more teeth than a shark's and which was probably just as friendly.  
  
"And now, our next argument. A man who discovers his wife is a lesbian, who married him just so she could make love to his likewise-orientated sister who shares his home."  
  
The five men grinned in anticipation.  
  
The floor panels trembled to steel footfalls as the largest of the Decepticons stalked along the corridors towards the bridge. The faint light gleamed off the silver and chrome of his body and his red optics gleamed from within the helmet that encased his head.  
  
The figure paused beside a doorway and glanced into one of the larger store- rooms . Inside it looked like a scrapyard, a charnel house of mecha.  
  
At least fifty steel corpses were crammed into the large room, all mangled and deformed. Some lacked limbs while others had large chunks hacked out off them, several looked like they had been dismembered and severed by energy weapons. Damage and heavy burn marks had dulled their recently gleaming paint, but it was still possible to make out the purple Decepticon sigil that adorned each machine.  
  
Incongruously among the wreckage were what appeared to be the limbs of a large transformer, each resembling a combat vehicle. Four shattered railroad locomotives had been heavy-handedly lugged into the wreckage as well. The air stenched of oil and lubricant, aromas which to transformers were as appetizing as the smell of blood is to a human.  
  
Most of the mecha had been drones, with only the standard OZ-optic plate for a face, but a large percentage of those rammed into this tiny space had various Transformer flex-metal features, currently frozen in hellish shock, the grey optics wide, mouths hanging open in terror. Despite the misery that was etched onto these faces, not a speck of compassion or mercy could be seen in the similar features of the observer as he grabbed one particular transformer out of the pile. This one had no face and was distinguished by the missile launchers that rose through his back. One of the railroad engines was lodged through his abdomen, and the visitor yanked it out like a stake, trailing the fluids and components of the dead Decepticon with it.  
  
He held the corpse up to the light and spoke in gravelled tones.  
  
"Onslaught...Coward, traitor, usurper."  
  
Had this transformer been carrying a weapon he would have used it on the pitiful remains of the Combaticon commander, but instead had to satisfy himself by repeatedly punching the head hard enough to cave in the mouthplate.  
  
Carefully, he re-mounted Onslaught on the Canadian-built engine then hurled the entwined machines across the room, where they slammed into a wall and partly disintegrated; wiring, piping and liquid bursting from them as they slid down the wall onto the top of the pile.  
  
His anger satisfied, the Deecpticon left, shutting the door behind him and plunging the necropolis back into darkness.  
  
Elsewhere in the Ark things were quiet. Few Transformers or humans were awake at this hour, either sleeping or recharging.  
  
One figure was on the bridge, occupying the command chair and staring into the reddish rock that had smashed through the former viewscreen before him. Processors and equipment hummed around him as he sat pensive, sapphire optics narrowed, a hand frozen against the mouthpiece that covered his lower face. Checkerboard displays flashed in sequence, reflecting off the highly polished red metal of his armour. His body was frozen, a casual human observer would have assumed him to be offline, only the most perceptive were able to hear the faint hum of his ancillary systems.  
  
Optimus Prime's right hand was held steadily on the armrest, and the tips of his fingers had opened to reveal cables which were attached to terminals in the chair., feeding a steady supply of power and data into his vast quantum-mechanical mind.  
  
One of the aft bulkheads slid open and the same Decepticon who had recently been taking out his anger on Onslaught stepped up behind him. Expecting his former nemesis to say something, he was surprised when his entrance provoked no response at all. Walking in front of the Autobot commander he noticed the fixed look and power cables linking him to the chair, and waved his black fingers in front of Prime's optics, trying to get a response.  
  
Prime's vocal unit rumbled softly and he chuckled.  
  
"Evening Megatron."  
  
Momentarily startled Megatron stepped back before composing himself. He waved at the power feeds.  
  
"Do you normally recharge while on watch?"  
  
Prime shrugged.  
  
"A habit I picked up during the war. I took to recharging whenever I had an opportunity. You could be pretty random about when you chose to attack. It also makes a watch easier when you're plugged into the actual security network."  
  
"Constant vigilance eh? I like you Prime."  
  
"Well I should hope so given that we're working together."  
  
The two leaders shared a grin, not that you could see Prime's, and he stood up, unplugging his digits as he stretched his stiff limbs. Megatron glanced curiously at him  
  
"But since we haven't got the security network fully on-line, what were you doing?"  
  
Megatron could sense a slight rise in the temperature of Prime's emotion circuits in his cheeks and hear his 'pulse' quicken as extra coolant was pumped up to cool them; he was embarrassed.  
  
Prime replied in a low mumble which Megatron prompted him to repeat louder. he sighed and rubbed his forehead.  
  
"I was watching 'The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.'"  
  
Megatron chuckled at Prime's expense and then pointed out that the 'Return of the King' was better. Even, they turned to more important matters.  
  
"Are all of your Autobots back on line following last week's battle."  
  
"Fully repaired and itching to give their new systems a test-drive. Ratchet's using human technology to repair them because he says it's simpler to install and remarkably powerful."  
  
"The Constructicons agree. While repairing Starscream they went over him with a fine tooth-comb and were amazed how much his speed, endurance and agility have been boosted by the Gundam parts the humans fitted him with. Scrapper's hoping I'll let him refurbish every Decepticon in this manner and I gave him carte blanche to update anyone in for repairs."  
  
"Is Soundwave out of your repair bay yet."  
  
"Completed but Hook wants him to remain for observation for another day. Soundwave is apparently grateful to that human female Noin for taking care of his 'children' during the time he's been offline."  
  
Prime nodded and then looked straight at Megatron.  
  
"How's your arm?"  
  
Megatron winced slightly and held his right forearm up, an entire panel had been removed exposing damaged systems and overloaded circuits underneath. Without the black fusion cannon that was normally mounted on that part of his body he looked remarkably different; one's optics were drawn first to the actual Decepticon rather than the weapon he commanded.  
  
"Scrapper's getting Hook to patch my damaged system up tomorrow now that the more critical cases have received attention. The actual cannon is probably 75% destroyed, and since no-one knows how the mis-functioning thing works it's going to be difficult putting it back together."  
  
Prime's brow furrowed in confusion.  
  
"You don't know how to repair your weapon? I can strip my proton rifle down and repair it easily enough..."  
  
"...Except the fusion cannon never breaks down and has never required maintenance. All I know from my diagnostics systems is that there's a particle acceleration unit inside and a subspace pocket that can feed it antimatter, as you saw last week...It's a self-contained unit that only draws a fraction of its power from the Transformer bonded to it. Except for polishing I've never had to do anything to the blasted thing so I don't have the first idea about what's inside it and neither does anyone else."  
  
"Before we left Cybertron Wheeljack was experimenting with nuclear weaponry. Would you like him to have a look?"  
  
If Megatron were human his face would have paled, "I'm not sure...I've heard his projects have a habit of self-destructing..."  
  
Prime's optics narrowed in humour, "Mere rumour, only one out of three objects that Wheeljack comes into contact with explode..."  
  
Megatron's concerns about Wheeljack were not aided by the fact that most of the Ark personnel were awoken the next day by a small explosion from his lab. The self-professed 'mad scientist' of the Autobot team briefly left the room to apologise then disappeared back into the acrid fumes that were curling from the doorway.  
  
Wheeljack was the oddest in appearance of the Earth-bound transformers. Like many of them he had no mouth but a smooth face-plate. Sitting either side of his head however were two large fluorescent beacons that lit in up synch with his words. It gave him a distinctly eccentric appearance and Megatron was extremely hesitant when he handed over his treasured weapon into Wheeljack's 'tender care'.  
  
The morning sun was just creeping over the horizon, lighting up the area around the entrance to the Ark and beaming orange streaks of light into the azure sky. People were just beginning to stir from their sleep, but no-one had yet to appear on the surface of the complex.  
  
Save one.  
  
Chris Latta slumped against a large boulder and stuck his hands in his pockets, shivering slightly in the cold.  
  
'Damn it! Since when did this job include duties as a babysitter - and with this particular baby!'  
  
His foot idly played with a discarded Coke can while he waited.  
  
High above the Oregon skies an aircraft was currently dancing an intricate ballet, the dawn's rays gleaming on its multicoloured metal skin. Gold, azure, scarlet and silver glinted as it climbed over and under through a loop, Vernier emissions powering it above and beyond, higher and faster. The long bulging cylinders of those engines fused into a red manifold that swept around the cockpit, curving into a sharp, angled beak. Instead of wings it was fitted with two giant silver assemblies that each sprouted an extra pair of engines.  
  
It was a beautiful bird, but it was clearly a bird of prey. Under the raked beak two identical weapons jutted into view. The long, smooth barrels merged into a pair of tiny Minovsky generators, capable of punching vast amounts of deadly energy through the weapon and into the unfortunate target. In the previous wars, this weapon had destroyed a colony, an entire battleship, an armoured bunker and several hundred unfortunate mobile suits. Yes, the Twin Buster rifle was ideally suited to the occupation of this aircraft's pilot.  
  
Chris looked up at the sound of a powerful engine and winced in disgust as an electric pink Rolls Royce rolled into the mine complex, now just a collection of burnt -out shacks.  
  
The tasteless car pulled up beside him and the elderly driver – Pargan, opened the door for the passenger. A mop of red hair squatted over cool grey eyes which instantly locked onto her assigned escort. Latta shook his head slightly and saluted to his protectee.  
  
"Miss Kushrenada."  
  
The portion of the Ark where the humans spent most of their time other than their quarters was the Mobile-Suit bay. Like most of the vessel, an empty cargo-hold had been turned over to a function it had never been designed for. Temporary holding racks for mobile suits had been erected along the walls and some of the equipment from the submarine Genesis had been used to construct a repair-shop.  
  
Five of the ten racks were currently occupied, three Gundams, and two derivatives of the Leo design. Numerous mechanics were currently scrambling over the three Gundanium machines. Though it had been a week since Sandrock, Heavyarms and Altron were crippled in battle neither had yet been surveyed. The backlog of work meant that repairs to the on-site Mobile Suits was only just beginning.  
  
Of the three Gundams, the least imposing was probably the machine that was painted in various shades of green, deep emerald striped in lighter shade. It had the least armour and the most slender proportions. However, despite it's utilitarian appearance, many souls could testify to the 'awesome lethality' of the Gundam Heavyarms.  
  
The military machine's captain was currently elsewhere, but someone was half buried in the open chest. The four Gatling Cannons had been removed, and a pair of legs clad in Hawaiian shorts were sticking out of one's recess. That person was currently cursing voraciously as he fought a reluctant piece.  
  
"Fit in there you piece of crap! Damn it!"  
  
Something snapped and the person gave up fighting. A steam turbine was thrown out of the aperture and clattered to the ground and shortly after a bespectled man sat up in the hole.  
  
A red metal hand reached down and picked up the turbine casing, the smashed blades scattered around the floor. The white Transformer held up the metal manifold and put it to his right optic.  
  
"I spy with my little optic, one irate little Howard."  
  
Chuckling the Autobot medic lowered the device and smiled at his human counterpart's expense.  
  
"Won't fit?"  
  
Howard Calahan was an excellent designer and mechanic of mobile suits. As he himself put it, he'd "been in on this scam since the beginning." Many however wished his dress sense was advanced as his skill with a spanner. He invariably dressed like a surfer regardless of the weather, and his shirts came with a warranty that they would blind at a hundred yards for a minimum of five years.  
  
Howard scowled back at Ratchet over the top of his triangular sunglasses.  
  
"Oh it'll fit."  
  
"Of course it will. You humans are so obsessive at your work. You'll make a round plug fit into a square socket just to prove a point."  
  
Picking his spanner back up Howard went back to work on the mechanism that rotated the cannon barrel.  
  
"Thanks for the compliment, at least I think it's a compliment."  
  
Ratchet leant against the wall and pointed across the room.  
  
"Could be a compliment, but I was commenting on your stubbornness. For example."  
  
Howard followed the finger with his eyes and looked on the two 'Leos' mounted on opposite racks to the Gundams.  
  
"Please observe. The Tallgeese, designed over twenty years ago, partly by you I understand. Next to it a Leo, a design your military kept mass- producing till AC195 despite its quickly becoming obsolete. Now as both the Tallgeese and this version modified by Onslaught show; you were onto something with the design, but why, oh why did you keep manufacturing a flawed downgrade for twenty years? The answer is because you were adamant that it worked and wouldn't be swayed."  
  
Howard smirked as he threw gears, bearings and drive shafts out of the chest cavity.  
  
"You've got us pegged, or at least our bureaucrats."  
  
"And yet..."  
  
Ratchet trailed off, Howard turned from his work and saw the Autobot medic examining the mechanism that protruded from the machine's severed left arm.  
  
"...You're remarkably inventive."  
  
He waved at the intact arm.  
  
"Mind if I have a look?"  
  
Howard nodded, curious about what a fellow engineer would have to say about the systems he helped design. Ratchet lifted Heavyarm's right arm up to him and flipped open an access panel on the forearm. His finger prodded the machinery inside.  
  
"I'm amazed. There's practically nothing in here. Twenty years development and you've reduced all the mechanics down to the bare minimum."  
  
Howard shrugged and walked along the outstretched arm to where Ratchet had opened it up. He knelt on the edge.  
  
"Like you said, in theory it's simple. There's two hydraulics in the upper arm and one in the lower, both pushing on a common pivot. There's a few motors to help. But then you've got to calculate variables, tolerances etc. With mass production you could churn these out, but each Gundam is tailored for it's pilot. Plus each Gundanium component takes a hell of time to grow. It's a genetic metal, we program the desired shape into the liquid material which then grows gradually and sets. Then, the process is so delicate it has to be done in zero gravity. It's a lot of time and even more effort."  
  
Ratchet was calmly nodding through this.  
  
"Seems that both technologies are lacking. Transformers have too much surplus mechanicals, while the best MS are too much effort to manufacture. Perhaps a fusion of the two would benefit both parties."  
  
Howard looked up, a twinkle in his eye.  
  
"I had the same idea when I first looked inside Starscream, and then Chris and I locked ourselves in a room with a draughtsboard and several casks of beer."  
  
Chuckling at a private joke, Howard looked across at the Tallgeese 2.  
  
"I guess most space in a Transformer's body is taken up with computers that deal with your personalities, emotions etc."  
  
"Yes, but once again your human technology has the solution to shrinking that down, and Onslaught used it."  
  
"The ZERO supercomputer?"  
  
"Yes, I had a look inside Onslaught's new Decepticons and compared them to your blueprints of Wing Zero. Each laser-core was connected to a simplified ZERO superprocessor, only Epyon had the full system. Those few circuit boards could replace 42% of the micro-processors in my body."  
  
Howard smiled slightly.  
  
"Well the Zero is perhaps the only portion of Gundam tech. I had no-part in developing. That was down to my former colleagues. It must have worked though...Tallgeese was Treize down to a tee from what I've heard."  
  
As he chuckled Ratchet frowned.  
  
"Well it was General Kushrenada in there. Onslaught used the MS's stored profile of the last pilot's brain when he designed the laser-core."  
  
Howard's chuckling trailed off. He locked eyes with Ratchet, face suddenly serious.  
  
"You're bullshitting me!"  
  
Confused the Autobot shook his head. Howard was suddenly thoughtful, contemplative.  
  
"Well what'd know...All this time the solution was right under my nose...Guess I couldn't see the wood for the trees."  
  
Ratchet watched on as Howard laughed.  
  
On the other side of Altron from Heavyarms, Marimaia watched on, bored as Chris pried open the access hatch on Sandrock's upper torso with a crowbar. He briefly looked up at a technician.  
  
"You pulled the fuel-rods?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Any damage?"  
  
"Some, one had ruptured and we lost the fuel."  
  
Latta shook his head.  
  
"So that's only several million credits worth of Helium-3 lost." He threw the crowbar down, it's task done, and it clattered along the curved chest before sliding off the side and dropping to the ground. "Perfect."  
  
Disgruntled, he turned back to the now open hatch and stuck his head in, before pulling it out again. He turned to Marimaia.  
  
"Alright hotshot - you're a child prodigy, so tell me this. This Gundam was caught in an explosion which smashed the chest-plate in. All power was lost - extreme internal damage. What happened?"  
  
Marimaia replied as if reciting from a textbook, her eyes fixed on the machine on the other side of the hanger, the one which had been of so interest to Howard and Ratchet.  
  
"The reactor shielding failed and the released plasma melted the innards. The reactor shut down instantly so the damage was short of a self- detonation, but not by much. Only the Gundanium armour endured."  
  
Latta's confidant grin slowly dropped and he gave up any pretence of toleration, barking out violently.  
  
"Fine! What is it!"  
  
The young red-head whipped round and locked eyes with him as he carried on unabated.  
  
"You've been deliberately ignoring me for half-an hour and only speak to me like you were an android. So what was it? What did I do to deserve your contempt?"  
  
Her reply was stern, almost as if she was scolding him.  
  
"You shot my grandfather, Communications Officer Latta, you 'executed' him."  
  
Silence fell as the enmity between the two rose to a palatable level. Marimaia's tone suddenly lowered, softened.  
  
"And you carried me to the medical officer, and gave me three pints of your own blood, without which I would have died from blood-loss."  
  
Latta, unable to hold the gaze of those eyes looked away. She continued, a trace of confusion in her voice.  
  
"Why? If you had no qualms over killing Dekim Barton, why make such an effort to allow Marimaia Barton to live."  
  
Staring away from her, Chris grunted back in clipped tones.  
  
"I let Marimaia Kushrenada live."  
  
She cringed slightly. He sighed.  
  
"I knew your father, served under him. He was a good man, loved his men. I was betraying his memory by following Dekim, though it took Commander Une's words to wake me up to that fact. After that transgression I owed it to him to keep his only child alive. And...you were just a kid. Dekim was well aware of his sins and died because of them. You were an innocent in his plans."  
  
Marimaia nodded in understanding and looked across the hanger. Latta followed her gaze and grinned slowly.  
  
"Come on."  
  
The same machine that had been dancing over Oregon swooped low over Mt. St. Hillary. As it reached the lowest apex of it's swing, it transformed. Components twisted, engines extended into legs. But unlike an Autobot or Decepticon, there was no audible sound to this change, save a faint clicking of gears.  
  
On the chest of the Gundam which now towered over the surroundings a compartment opened, and a young man climbed into view. Messy brown bangs covered his head, and he wore only a baggy green shirt and a pair of jeans.  
  
Heero Yuy, the unofficial leader of the Gundam team looked up at the head of Wing Zero which overhung the cockpit, and patted the metal in a gesture which was odd for this introverted youth, for it displayed emotion. It was almost...affectional.  
  
"Well done Zero...and thanks."  
  
No-one other than Heero noticed, but the optics of Wing Zero gleamed briefly in response.  
  
"...Thanks for taking care of her."  
  
"Here it is. Tallgeese 2. Your father's mobile suit."  
  
Tentatively, the young girl reached out and touched the cool metal of the machine's foot, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.  
  
Gently, Chris cupped his hands and boosted the would-be world conqueror onto the Tallgeese's foot and then pulled her up the handholds to the cockpit.  
  
Marimaia had always had a respect for her father, the man of legend who she was raised to follow, but she'd never had an actual physical link to him. She was born out of a brief and unsuccessful marriage, one that should have stayed as a love affair had Dekim Barton not insisted on Treize Kushrenada and Leia Barton tying the knot. In retrospect, she could now see that that was just so that her claim to the throne of the Earthsphere would be genuine, rather than a real desire for her father and mother to be happy.  
  
Her father had left before Leia had taken the pregnancy test. She had intended to present his daughter to him at the age of ten, but cancer of the stomach had put an end to that ideal.  
  
This machine, this mobile suit, was the first time she had come into contact with anything that belonged to her father.  
  
Marimaia reached out and touched the fabric of the seat, the handholds on the collectives. And, for the first time in many years, Marimaia acted her age, and burst into tears.  
  
Preventers Message Log. 06/01/199.  
  
Time: 18:29.  
  
From: H. Callahan, C. Latta.  
  
To: Isla Nublar.  
  
Message Recipient: L.Serman.  
  
Text: Gundams 03/04/05 received severe damage in recent classified combat. 02 & T3 destroyed, 04 unusable. Currently en route to I.Nublar via Helix. Data suggests upgrade/overhaul needed replacement of destroyed MS.  
  
Action: Remove components CUSTOM / GABRIELLE / OMEGA / BLITZ / SCARAB / HYDRA / GUNDAM TG from storage and prepare for installation by 15/02/199.  
  
End Message.  
  
Howling wind drove a wall of dust through the main hatch to the Ark. Curious, the fourth Gundam pilot made his way along the corridor. Trowa Barton's emerald eyes stared out from beneath his distinctive fringe as he fought his way through the dust-storm, a hand held up to shield his face.  
  
Four Mikoyan-Tianamen 1.5K Helix helicopters hovered low over the mining complex, the downdraft from their two counter-rotating rotors stirring up tornados.  
  
Engines idling the four MiT's touched down on the concrete surface of the marshalling yard. They were very ungainly aircraft. The rotors were mounted on a thin stick of Gundanium, the machine's keel. Astern the keel billowed out into the massive stabilizing fin, the tail-rotor mounted in the vertical wing. Straddling that were two jet engines and the long, insectile landing struts. Forward sat the two turbines that drove the rotors and the ungainly bubble of the cockpit that hung from the keel. The fuselages were painted a plain olive green, indistinguishable from the colour-schemes of most militaries.  
  
They were Chinese-built heavy lift transports, and were often sold to various armies where bomb racks, gatling guns, surveillance equipment and sometimes even manned, armoured bunkers were fitted to the brackets suspended from the keel. Quatre had picked ten of them up at an auction in Beijing, finding them useful for the transport of certain pieces of 'heavy machinery'. Despite the helicopters weight and ungainly appearance, the jets mounted to their sterns could push them at the speed of most air- liners.  
  
Beside them a small personal helicopter touched down, it's lovingly polished silver and blue bodywork gleaming as brightly as the gold W on the tail.  
  
Admiring the aircraft Trowa stumbled towards the woman who jumped from the smaller machine's door.  
  
Ann Une was as business-like as ever as she climbed out of the helo, dressed in her formal uniform of white shirt, black skirt, tie and jacket. Composed despite the howling downdraught and gusting sand, she made a commanding presence.  
  
Une pushed several strands of her hair out of her eyes and returned the salute Trowa threw her. Almost deafened, Trowa was forced to yell to make himself heard.  
  
"What's with the fleet!?"  
  
Une cupped her hand to her ear and motioned for him to wait for a second as she watched the second passenger jump out of the plane. Trowa's eyes blinked in surprise.  
  
"Relena?"  
  
Relena was wearing a very...'unusual' outfit for her. Her ample chest barely fitted into an olive T-Shirt, while her legs were squeezed into black trousers which ended in zip-up boots. Over the T-shirt was a loose jacket; black with tan shoulder pads, on which was a black hexagon containing a green P.  
  
She was wearing a casual Preventers uniform.  
  
As Une made a 'time-out' gesture with her hands to the helo-pilots the engines finally shut down and they could hear each other speak. Trowa continued to stare at Relena in surprise and mild disbelief, barely registering the footsteps he could hear behind him.  
  
Zechs Marquise jogged up to the small group and mimicked Trowa's expression as he laid eyes on his younger sister. After a few second's silence he put voice to both their thoughts.  
  
"What the hell!"  
  
Two minutes later, indoors;  
  
"I've temporarily asked to be transferred to the Preventers, until the Transformer situation is dealt with," Relena explained.  
  
Zech's didn't reply, just stared at his sister with a disapproving expression. Relena locked eyes with him.  
  
"What! You're not happy?"  
  
Trowa chuckled slightly as he compared the militant expressions on the two sibling's faces as they stared each other down. Une likewise, stepped back, as it was possible that anyone who stepped into either's line of sight would be instantly incinerated.  
  
Eventually someone had to though, and she did.  
  
"Right, break it up kids."  
  
Lucrezia Noin, a woman both siblings held a great deal of respect and affection for stepped between them and pushed lightly on Zech's chest with the palm of her hand, snapping the stalemate.  
  
"Zechs, Relena's staying and I doubt there's much you can do to stop her, Relena, you should expect this kind of behaviour from an older brother. Now kiss and make up."  
  
Zechs rolled his eyes while Relena flicked hers skywards in exasperation, but she was grinning. Une stifled her giggles while Trowa watched the affair over his drink glass.  
  
Relena bounced down off the table she was sitting on while Zechs stood up from his chair. Reluctantly, they shook hands. That action seemed to release something within them and they embraced tightly, Relena pecking her brother on the cheek. Noin laughed.  
  
"I didn't mean literally."  
  
DOWNLOAD IN PROGRESS.  
  
Howard waited impatiently as the cockpit screen blinked rapidly; at this point, discovery would lead to questions, questions he would rather not have to answer.  
  
One of the shredded control panels beside him suddenly sparked violently, briefly illuminating the damaged cockpit.  
  
'Why did I never tell anyone about this.'  
  
The progress bar on the screen continued to fill slowly.  
  
'You know full well - you wouldn't want to get Une's spirits up until success is certain.'  
  
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.  
  
One hour and several drinks later the atmosphere in the base bar was extremely jovial. Relena was still sitting on the edge of the bar while the five Gundam pilots lounged around. Noin and Une seemed to be engaged in some kind of drinking game while Zechs served up further drinks from the pumps. The air was heavy with yeast and the scent of cigarette smoke that seemed to hang around the room even though no-one smoked.  
  
Just enjoying being around others and not having to worry about politics, Relena sipped a G&T while observing the others. Her jacket was rolled up on the bar and she wiped a few drips of sweat from her brow in the contained, muggy space.  
  
Duo drunk his Castlemaine with his right hand while throwing darts at the board on the wall out of the corner of his eye with the left. Getting all of the darts within an inch of the bulls-eye he turned round with a beaming grin on his face.  
  
"Better that!"  
  
Hilde smiled at him over her apple juice (her head injury meant she wasn't allowed alcohol for at least two more weeks). Silently Trowa put down his half-pint of Guinness and retrieved the darts. Holding the three lengthways in his hand he raised his arm to twelve-o-clock, then whipped his arm forward in a snapping motion. The three darts flew straight and true and thudded into the bulls-eye with pinpoint precision. Duo's grin faded.  
  
"Well, those three only count as one! You threw them together!"  
  
Unsurprised by Duo's comment, Trowa returned to his pint. Beside him, Heero regarded his untouched glass of Strongbow cider like it was an unexploded bomb, arms crossed and brows furrowed with suspicion. Tentatively, he took a sip, and the same brows lifted with surprise.  
  
Quatre was halfway through some fluorescent fruity cocktail which had at least three different liquors and pink dye in it, already looking more convivial than he had thirty minutes before.  
  
Une and Noin had two shot-glasses, a bottle of Smirnov and a deck of cards set up between them. Each held a hand, though they seemed to be having difficulty focusing. Noin pulled a card from her hand and laid it on the drink.  
  
"Snap. Take a shot."  
  
Triumphantly, Noin poured an inch of Vodka into the glass and held it out for Une, who regarded it like Heero his cider, before knocking it back.  
  
"You fold Ann?"  
  
Unable to speak and her eyes watering, Une shook her head. Noin shrugged, wiped some sweat-soaked hair out of her eyes and started to shuffle through her hand. After a few seconds she looked up again.  
  
"So how's life?"  
  
She waited for a second before Une began gasping a reply.  
  
"So-so. Work's satisfying but time-consuming as hell. Home's great. Marimaia might be the only ten-year old in the world who has MS blueprints pinned to her bedroom wall instead of boybands but its nice to have someone round my apartment. Used to get lonely."  
  
"How's she adapting to family life?"  
  
"Slowly, but I'm wearing her down. She accidentally called me 'mum' last month. Guess it's difficult trying to be a normal kid when you're on a major conglomerate's board of directors."  
  
"She's still with the Barton Foundation?"  
  
"Secretly yes, and snap, snap, and snap again."  
  
Noin looked down at the vodka bottle.  
  
"Oh-great!"  
  
Zechs slowly sipped some Wild Turkey whisky, pacing himself. Wufei leaned against the wall beside him, a glass of orange juice in his hand and a disdainful expression on his face.  
  
Fans slowly wafted air over the faces of technicians as they gazed into their monitors, not noticing the splendour of the cosmos outside the viewscreen.  
  
The International Space Station was outdated long before the first colonies were in orbit, but had been retained throughout the centuries as a symbol of national unity and man's determination to conquer the stars. In recent years it's main use had been as an early-warning station after the UESA had given it a hefty refurbishment, but it still retained the pioneering sense of the years of NASA, Yuri Gorgerin and Neil Armstrong. And, in addition to it's long and venerable history, it had a special part in the story of the Gundam pilots. In April AC195, words had been spoken here that had begun their legend.  
  
Today, a remarkably similar conversation was taking place.  
  
"Sir! Moving object confirmed at Lagrange Point moving in the LXG direction."  
  
The commanding officer leant over the control panel and observed the green blip on the radar.  
  
"Check it out, but don't get too concerned. It's most likely pieces from an old satellite or something."  
  
The technician leant over the beeping console as the projected course of the object altered.  
  
"Unidentified object is easing it's angle of descent."  
  
The officer leant out the window. In the far distance he could see a streak of light, almost like a line of hastily applied paint, angling away across the violet rim of the Earth. It's current position was directly above Japan, streaking west at a remarkable shallow angle.  
  
"Yeah, piece of space junk. Maybe even the first stage from one of the old Apollo rockets. Leave it."  
  
"But sir!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Would a satellite be riding the radiation belts without burning up?"  
  
On the verge of total collapse, Une stood up and rapped her empty glass against the edge of her table. The mostly intoxicated crowd looked up at her; The ever-so dizzy Relena was supporting Heero who was staring into the empty bottom of his first ever alcohol with a glazed expression on his face. Duo seemed to be dozing off to sleep while a tired (but not drunk) Hilde leant on his arm. Trowa and Quatre were laughing at some private joke. Noin looked dishevelled, while even Wufei had been prompted into sharing a drink with Zechs.  
  
"Right people...I said I'd let everyone get comfortable before I announced the course of action...Guess that was a mistake."  
  
There was a series of chuckles. Une tried to pull herself upright and staggered a few paces.  
  
"Right...As you are probably aware, the beautiful Relena Dorlain has joined the Preventers - there she is people..."  
  
Une pointed across the room where Relena stood up and took a bow.  
  
"Give her a hand."  
  
Relena sat down to scattered applause, a few cheers and a wolf-whistle. Glancing at Duo, Une shook her head.  
  
"She was meant to just help and aid the Transformers but since those affairs are handling themselves well enough, came to me asking if she could do some time with our happy little band. I warned her the hours were crap and the pay worse but she, in her insanity was adamant, and specifically asked if she could learn how to pilot after cutting her teeth on Wing Zero..."  
  
A few raised eyebrows were directed at Relena. Were Zechs more coherent he would have probably have objected to that request but he was currently staring at his hand as if he'd never seen one before.  
  
Une continued, sipping from Wufei's discarded water and composing herself.  
  
"On the bigger picture, I'm pulling the Gundams out of here tonight on those Helixes that Quatre kindly leant us..."  
  
Quatre, likewise received some applause.  
  
"...I will be personally escorting them to our Pacific base where an elite group will try to correct the damage you lot have wrought on them with your cack-handed driving. I have had to hire a team of demolition experts just to take them to pieces so we can put them back together again..."  
  
Laughter.  
  
"...As punishment for your sins, you will enjoy a four day cruise to that same base on the Genesis, and I hope your Typhoon gets stuck in a typhoon."  
  
Some mock booing and hissing. Une grinned.  
  
"Okay, guess I deserved that. Zechs, Noin - I want you to stay on post here and do the job Relena should be doing if she wasn't desperate to learn how to kill people in an MS. You other seven leave tomorrow. I suggest you get some sleep."  
  
That done, Une slumped down in her seat and seemed to pass out. The others, rather than leaving for their quarters seemed content to stay in the bar and doze. All were in that happy place between wakefulness and sleep, not wanting to move in case they shook off the pleasant feeling of warmth and security that enveloped them like a blanket.  
  
There was a knock on the door. No-one stirred. Unnoticed it opened and Marimaia Kushrenada stuck her head through the gap, wrinkling her nose at the smell of beer, second-hand smoke and sweat. She stepped in and manoeuvred herself among the prostrate forms, Chris following behind her. He shook his head good-humouredly.  
  
"You guys had a party and didn't tell me."  
  
Duo raised an arm, his words slurring slightly.  
  
"Hey Chris, I'm too out to think, so no hard questions. Live with it."  
  
Chris chuckled while Marimaia jumped into her adoptive parent's lap with unusual cheerfulness. Une jerked back into consciousness and grinned.  
  
"Hey there red."  
  
Marimaia shook her head.  
  
"Red? You are drunk."  
  
Une tried to straighten up.  
  
"Yeah, I know, and why are we so happy?"  
  
Chris smiled at the two from by the bar where he was mixing the dregs of different drinks together, resulting in a runny brown solution that resembled st. Judging by the reaction on his face it probably smelt as nice too. Perfect.  
  
While Une and her daughter continued to talk, Chris walked around the bar waving his creation under the noses of the comatose pilots, a cheap and nasty alternative to smelling salts.  
  
Preventers Message Log. 06/01/199.  
  
Time:20:48  
  
From: %($)ERROR!  
  
To: NeurologyWard, BartonHospital2, L3 Cluster.  
  
Message Recepient: !(SCRAMBLED!  
  
Text: Here's a present that might help TK.  
  
Attachment: Pilot Profile/T2. zip.  
  
The streak in the sky was first noticed over Sendai, Japan, where people watched the rapidly moving red dot pass overhead with grim expressions on their faces. Astrological events had been regarded in the middle ages as portents of evil times, and the same seemed to apply to more recent years. Four 'meteorites' four years ago had triggered a war, and one Christmas eve a particularly beautiful display of 'shooting stars' over Europe had turned out to be several hundred hostile mobile suits.  
  
Following roughly the 40 Degrees North Latitude it soon crossed the Korean city of Pyongang. By the time Beijing passed beneath the Chinese could see the red line of its firey trail.  
  
Crossing over Asia the object beat the dawn over the Caspian Sea. Turkey didn't notice a thing but the people of Italy, Spain and Portugal were rather confused by the white contrail that was burned across their sky when they awoke. At their mid afternoon the Azores saw a glowing line zip across the northern horizon.  
  
The total time from the ISS technician's observation till New York reported a giant sonic boom in the sky over their head was one hour. Minutes later, Chicago's evening sky was lit by what one reporter described as a giant meteorite, now low enough for individual flames to be seen in it's wake.  
  
Night had come to Oregon. In a sky remarkably clear for it's climate stars could be seen. Like the night before, Mt. St. Hillary was being transformed as further sections of the ark were exposed.  
  
On the northern flank however, all was peaceful and silent; the air still, the grass dry and cool.  
  
Two young couples sat near a Humvee that had brought them some distance up the mountain. Though Hilde had driven them it was probably still an irresponsible thing to have done, but they had done it. They were just above the tree line, and from here there was a beautiful view over the wooded foothills that unrolled from the mountain. In the distance could be seen the cut of the Colombia gorge and a faint glow on the horizon indicated the small town of Astoria.  
  
Grasshoppers chirped and a wolf howled in the distance. Hilde and Duo held each other's hand and enjoyed the silence.  
  
About a hundred feet away Heero and Relena were similarly engaged; he lying out on the ground, she hugging her knees to her chest.  
  
After a few minutes of her staring at the view, a contented smile on her face, and he gazing steadily at the stars, they shuffled closer and took each other's hand.  
  
Soundwave was a bit higher up than the humans, actually sitting on the crater's rim. His audio sensors had picked up the human's movements below him and he had altered his position to give them some privacy.  
  
He maintained a still vigil, staring out east across the geological valley between the Cascade and Rocky Mountain Ranges. Rumble, Frenzy and Buzzsaw were currently 'dormant' in his chest, but Ravage and Lazerbeak were outside with him, the robotic puma crouched by him, slowly being stroked by his indigo parent. Lazerbeak was somewhere in the skies above, enjoying flight. Soundwave wasn't bothered, as long as the mechanical bird didn't disturb some human aircraft.  
  
'Pain. Pain like no other is all my world has been reduced to. But that is the summary of my life from the day that Chaos came. This pain, burning in my spark surpasses all else. The cold, knawing pain of loneliness. But I must warn those who he seeks, those who wield the powers he fears. They are the universe's only hope, and I have tracked the energy signature of their greatest vessel for an eon. Now I have reached them, I have drained myself. My energy has fallen to the point I can barely control my fall. I'll most likely die on landing, alone on a strange alien world. But then, I am Kranix, the sole survivor of Lithone. I will always be alone.'  
  
Ravage pricked his ears up as something stirred his audios. Soundwave, noting the puma's action, reactivated his superior senses and was instantly bombarded with a wave of sound. A great wind, the crackle of flames, the scream of oxygen molecules being split by temperatures too great to comprehend.  
  
Homing in on the source, he looked to the north-east.  
  
It was Hilde who noticed it first, shaking Duo to get his attention, shocked into muteness. He looked up and his mouth hung open in surprise.  
  
Shooting over the Rockies was - something. It was impossible to make out it's shape or even it's size, only that it was coming in fast on a bearing that would take it just north of their position.  
  
"Holy Shit!"  
  
Heero and Relena, who had both been considering a kiss, whipped their heads towards Duo's yell and saw what had provoked him.  
  
It was kind of hard to miss, given the mile-long flame that trailed behind the metal object, which glowed-white hot with heat. But it was totally silent.  
  
Suddenly, a giant sonic boom ripped across the open countryside, after which a high-pitched screaming and a deep throated roar assaulted their eardrums, every tone and pitch between barely audible and ultrasonic rolled into a single wave of sound.  
  
Less than five seconds after Hilde first noticed it, the projectile angled down and struck pay-dirt about four miles to the north, throwing up a tidal wave of soil ahead of it. A second later, the deafening BA-DOOM of the impact could be heard and the ground beneath their feet shuddered with the impact.  
  
The four teenagers could only stare in shock first at the crash site, then the mammoth silhouette of Soundwave lunging down the hill towards them.  
  
Again, it was Hilde who was driving the Humvee, though given the shock that all were suffering, a blind-drunk Duo's driving would have been on-per with hers as the 4WD vehicle pelted down a ranger-track that bisected the pine trees of Mt. St. Hillary National Park towards the pillar of smoke that rose towards the heavens.  
  
Relena was currently yelling at a small blue tape-recorder she was holding in her hand.  
  
"This thing isn't natural Soundwave?"  
  
Soundwave's monotone voice could barely be heard over the roaring engine and squealing tires.  
  
"Negative...Ultrasonic, radar and sonar scans indicate object is composed of metals of non-terrestrial origin. Possible origin is Cybertronian."  
  
Duo yelled over his shoulder from the passenger seat.  
  
"Wait, I though Cybertron was destroyed."  
  
"Correct, though it is reasonable to assume some Transformers survived whatever cataclysm destroyed our home-world."  
  
Heero did not speak, waiting till they reached Ground Zero before he passed comment. Lazerbeak, who had scouted ahead suddenly appeared in the sky and landed on the Humvee's roll-bars. He squawked loudly and Soundwave translated.  
  
"Lazerbeak confirms initial analysis."  
  
Shaking her head Hilde shook her head as she threw the car round the final corner and down the hillside towards the crater.  
  
"Just when we thought we had this whole alien shit sorted out, something else comes and screws everything up."  
  
Surprisingly, they were not the first to reach the impact. Optimus Prime, Megatron, the Seekers and the Autobots Jazz and Trailbreaker had managed to cover the two miles in the time it took the teens to negotiate their way down the mountainside.  
  
The two leaders and Starscream were currently clustered on one side of the quarter-mile diameter cleft in the ground. The contrail of the object was beginning to settle, draping a sickly grey blanket over the area, tinged with wood-smoke from the forest fire which had been quickly spreading before the Transformers had arrived.  
  
The two Autobot soldiers were currently marking the perimeter, Jazz pulling down trees with a grappling hook his arm had sprouted to act as a fire break, while Trailbreaker tried to contain smaller fires with his force- field projector. Thundercracker and Skywarp were doing the same thing as Jazz, but using their sheer robotic strength rather than gadgets.  
  
Megatron looked down at the Humvee as it pulled up beside his foot. Relena stepped out, holding Soundwave out in her hand, from which he quickly leapt and transformed into his blocky robotic self.  
  
"Prime!" Duo yelled up, "what's the situation?"  
  
Optimus Prime knelt down beside the humans.  
  
"Perhaps you should see for yourselves."  
  
He held out his hand and lifted them to a height where they could see down into the crater, where a bronze and tan robot lay, face-down in the Earth. Though he was of Transformer size, it was instantly obvious he was neither Autobot or Decepticon. Neither sigil could be seen on him, his the odd proportions of his body made him look decidedly alien.  
  
Surprisingly, it was Heero who spoke first.  
  
"What is he?"  
  
Starscream shook his head.  
  
"Currently, Primus knows."

To be Continued...

A/N:  
  
Well, that's the Prologue and first chapter of Era of Change 2, brought out on July 4th as an Independence Day present for any American readers.  
  
Some may be disappointed with the lack of action in this chapter; my idea was to showing the characters as believing that the war is over, before throwing Kranix into the mix.  
  
I would like to hear your feedback on this, and rest assured the next chapter, 'The Islands of Lady Une' should be up soon. In the meantime, why not read my other Gundam Wing fic, 'Runaway Train', which envisions a world where the Gundam pilots lost the war and were imprisoned for life in an Alaskan prison. Though some have escaped, Heero, Duo and Zechs are still under the thumb of the sadistic warden Une, but if they have their way, not for long...  
  
I'm sorry if these new chapters have been late in coming but for me it has been unavoidable. However, I have managed to write forty pages in three weeks so now that my exams are over I will soon be back up to speed, with a bit of luck.  
  
See ya'.  
  
PS. Many Transformer fans requested to see Galvatron and his forces in Era of Change. Rest assured, his appearance has always been part of the planned plot and he will make his debut in Chapter Three: Faustus. 


	3. The Islands of Lady Une

CHAPTER 2. THE ISLANDS OF LADY UNE  
  
A/N: Well, here we are. Chapter two is added. I hope you enjoy it. It's mostly Gundam stuff, but there are some snippets of what's going on with the Transformers, and at the end events take a drastic turn...for the worst. And the next chapter is only Transformers, so it all balances out!  
  
Thanks to the following:  
  
MICROWAVE JOCKEY: Glad that you like my work, and I hope you didn't mind that I used you in the introduction to this continuing saga. Thanks for the compliments by the way.  
  
TARIQ: You're welcome, here's that update.  
  
CYBLADE SILVER: I'm overjoyed that you enjoyed chapter one. Action is hard to write, but trying to write normal (well-semi normal) people in a normal situation (drunk in a bar) is harder. Looks like I succeeded.  
  
BRAX: Cheers mate! Sorry that there's almost no Kranix in this chapter but I'm building up to it.  
  
NEKO: Sorry if you're not a fan of long chapters, cos this one's longer than the last. And, its fantastic that you enjoyed the last chapter even if you're not a gigantic Gundam fan.  
  
VINCENT KINNEAS: Glad you enjoyed Time of Change and good luck with your own work.  
  
ANDREW: Your e-mails kept me laughing for ages, along with my brother. We both thank you for the comic relief ideas and I promise to write them up someday.  
  
Thanks to everyone for contacting me or reviewing, and you're all welcome to e-mail me with questions, ideas, anything!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the trademarked/copyrighted characters, locations, machines or situations in the below work.

---------------------------  
  
ERA OF CHANGE II: CHAPTER II: THE ISLANDS OF LADY UNE.  
  
With a barely audible ripple the waves parted before the blunt snout of the Genesis.  
  
Making near to no headway she slid out of the cloying, encroaching fog, the placid grey waters lapping along her hull. The conning tower faded up like a a ghost out of the shroud. Gradually the hydroplanes and softly churning wash of the propellers passed before the walls of vapour closed back in again, fading away, a phantom in the mist.  
  
"Dead slow ahead, maintain this course."  
  
Howard turned away as a seaman rang the bridge telegraph, it's harsh bell the only sound in the cotton-wool void.

-------------------  
  
Clad only in jeans and a sweat-soaked T-shirt that clinged to his body Duo stalked along the missile deck towards the conning tower. It wasn't the damp that bothered him. This fog seemed to sap the very life out of a person. It was downright creepy in fact.  
  
Instead of the numbing cold that was expected, it had a sickly warmth, that gradually settled on his skin, which gradually began to sweat, further dampening him. Smelling slightly of sulphur it rose from the sea in swirls, bubbling and coiling up from the depths. The ocean itself was disturbingly flat, like a pond. No wind disturbed the surface, no current churned beneath. Around them, there was absolutely, nothing.  
  
Nothing except this blasted fog!  
  
Cursing his luck, he scrambled up the rungs to the conning tower. Howard grinned weakly at him.  
  
"Weird ain't it."  
  
"Yeah. Never seen anything like it."  
  
"This area is very volcanically active. Undersea vents spew gasses, which rise to the surface. The coastal currents clash not far offshore as well, and that can cause some freaky weather. It's almost always foggy round here. That's where the island's name comes from. It's a Spanish dialect for "Cloud Island."  
  
"Yeah, well I can't wait to get there. There's something unnatural about this."  
  
"Not long to go now. Listen."  
  
Howard spoke with the telegraph operator again.  
  
"Reduce rotations to five knots, bring her around to course two-seven- zero."  
  
Dimly, Duo could hear breaking surf.

-------------------------  
  
The other Gundam pilots were gathered in the sub's rec room, busying themselves with whatever caught their fancy.  
  
Heero was in the corner of the room engaged in physical gymnastics which seemed positively painful, sitting cross-legged and lifting himself up with his arms alone, before flipping himself upside-down into a one-handed handstand. Quatre was studying the Koran, murmuring to himself in Arabic.  
  
To a casual observer, Wufei would have appeared to be napping at one of the desks, until his eyes opened slightly and he made a small mark on a piece of paper laid out in front of him with a soft pencil.  
  
Trowa, unable to engage in his favourite pastimes of knife-throwing, acrobatics or lion taming, had elected to being Relena's tuition, starting with teaching her the basics of piloting Mobile Suits not fitted with the Zero's sensory control system.  
  
To this end he had pulled together some of the spare parts from the Genesis' supplies during the voyage and assembled a reasonable cockpit simulator. It lacked display screens and the seat was just a plastic one from the mess, but it served its purpose well enough. Truth be told, Trowa thought Relena would be 'graduating' to an actual MS with very little instruction.  
  
Hilde was standing behind Wufei's shoulder, admiring his drawing. Like every one of his sketches, it showed Altron - 'Nataku'-she reminded herself, in a power-pose, but the young Chinaman had managed to capture the sheer grace, power and nobility of the Gundam as it swept around, beam trident in hand, about to vanquish an enemy.  
  
Any further thoughts were disrupted as Duo burst into the room wearing his usual expression - lunatic.  
  
"You guys have got to come see this!"

---------------------  
  
"Whoa!" Quatre breathed.  
  
The Genesis was slowly drifting to a halt, her prow inching through the barrier of fog, which suddenly ended in a sheer wall, and ahead lay another.  
  
Crashing waves broke onto sheer cliffs of rugged volcanic rock that emerged from the sea and swept up, seamlessly merging into foliage-draped mountainsides which continued on, their distant peaks lost in the cloud cover over the island. No fog drifted across the land-mass save for these areas, holding back to the ocean and surrounding it like a cage.  
  
Even from a 1000 ft down the lush greenery was an impressive sight, rippling and undulating like a living blanket on the world. Animal cries drifted down from above, a never-ending medley of life.  
  
It was a lush, jungle paradise marooned in the sea of fog, beautiful yet alien, terrifying and thrilling, sweeping right across the field of view, filling their world.  
  
"It looks like Alcatraz," Trowa muttered.  
  
"Forward on the port shaft, slow ahead on both when she comes around to three-zero-zero. You know the course from there."

----------------------------  
  
About two miles north there was a cleft in the cliffs, a long narrow fjord. Slowly the helmsman eased the massive submarine's bow into the estuary and then the actual gorge. As she went she slipped past massive pilings strung across the bay, that looked like they might once have supported a roadway.  
  
Hilde eyed the ruined bridge then Howard.  
  
"What was this place?"  
  
"It was a nature preserve of some-kind. Then it became a resort for the rich and idle. Now we use it as a hidden stash."  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"You'll see soon enough."

---------------------------  
  
As the Genesis forced herself along the river, Heero reached one hand out from the missile deck and just managed to touch the red cliffs that bordered them. The stone crumbled away in his hand, like badly applied plaster.  
  
Wufei ambled towards him and noticed the red fragments in Heero's palm. He considered the cliff that overhung them uneasily.  
  
After about five minutes of this, they cliffs dwindled down and eventually fell back, and the sub was moving through the rainforest, towards a fully- equipped harbour. Wufei looked back towards the sea. Behind them the hills rose up to a horizon, beyond which was just grey sky.  
  
"We're inside a volcano."  
  
Duo looked at him, horrified as the Genesis butted up against the quayside.  
  
"The cliffs around the island are the rim, and we're inside the crater."  
  
"However, you not gonna suddenly fall into a lake of lava!"  
  
Unnoticed, Une had stepped down the gangplank and onto the sub's deck.  
  
"Welcome to Isla Nublar!"

------------------------------  
  
Three red and silver Jeep Wranglers carrying Une, Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Relena, Hilde and Howard sped along a tarmaced road that led away from the dock. Une's voice came over several speakers mounted inside each vehicle.  
  
"The island's eight miles long and five miles wide at it's widest point. From space it looks like an inverted teardrop. Like Wufei said, it's an extinct volcano, though there's still a few active regions down in the south. We get our power from geothermal generators."  
  
The three all-terrain vehicles tore around a corner, canting over on their suspensions. From the third, Quatre looked down at the valley to the left. What seemed to be the remains of massive cement constructs could be seen cutting across the jungle, dividing the island interior into several large sections.  
  
"The Preventers purchased this island from the Central American Government two years ago. There was some controversy here around the twenty-first century so they were eager to offload it. Since then we've been fitting it up as a training and maintenance facility. We're not very far from several shipping lanes so we try to keep all operations within the outer rim."  
  
Duo cocked an eyebrow at her from inside her car.  
  
"What kind of operations?"  
  
BA-DOOM!  
  
Several large explosions went off to the south, sending tremors through the cars, which drove on. The blossoming fires were strung right across the visible width of the island, as if whoever planted the explosives was trying to blow off the southern half of Isla Nublar.  
  
"Those kind of operations."  
  
As the pilots watched with varying amounts of interest the driver chuckled to himself.

------------------------  
  
"You put the left probe in, the left probe out. In, out. In, out, stir it all about. You run it through the scanner then you throw it in the trash. Then you go back to square one."  
  
Wheeljack disposed of the amber liquid in the aforesaid manner, humming to himself. After four million years most of the experiments he had assembled in his lab before leaving Cybertron had gone...stale, and he had spent the past few days determining what could be saved and what could not.  
  
That liquid was quickly joined in the skip that formed his rubbish bin with several energon cubes, their surface coated in a translucent, slightly putrid slime, a shelf of culture growth vats whose contents were threatening to break out and start their own ecosystem, numerous rusted pieces of machinery and several gallons of 'turned' chemicals.  
  
When his lab had returned to the level of uncontrolled clutter that he defined as tidy, the bipedal muscle-car turned to the latest project Prime had assigned him.  
  
"Right...I've got repair the weapon that's killed more than a few of my friends."  
  
Wheeljack began laying out the tools of his trade. Along with the expected soldering iron, measuring device and cutting torch was a roll of scotch- tape, a two gallon drum of acid, a buzzsaw, a crowbar and a device that looked like it was designed for vocal-chord scrapings, amongst other...things.  
  
Wheeljack hefted a sledgehammer over his head. Like Howard, he believed that when a broken machine refused to co-operated, you should hit it...hard. He rapped it against the cannon's casing as was rewarded with a resounding 'CLANG!'  
  
"Should be fun."  
  
Unnoticed behind him, the contents of the skip bubbled merrily as they fused into a fluorescent scarlet substance that cheerfully ate through the metal bottom and started fulfilling Jules Verne's dream of journeying to the centre of the Earth.

---------------------------------  
  
There had been a moment of shock among some of the pilots when the three jeeps had driven straight into a giant waterfall, but that was soon averted when they emerged into the massive metal cavern on the other side. Relena was the first to comment.  
  
"Very impressive Ann. Tell me...How much of this came out of the Preventers budget which I allocated last year."  
  
Une's silence said enough.  
  
"This was built thanks to a bit of dabbling in the stock market and an offshore bank account in the Cayman Islands."  
  
Heads turned towards the new voice.  
  
"This is Preventer Quatorze - Lon Serman. He's our chief mechanic."  
  
Serman was a well-groomed young man with dark hair and a pair of frameless glasses which did quite a bit for his already handsome face. He grinned insubordinately at Une before introducing himself to the pilots, and elegantly kissing Relena's hand. This provoked a great deal of blushing by Relena, some giggles, one comment about "stupid estrogen-addled woman", and a death glare from Heero that would have fried Prime's circuits.  
  
Serman turned round, looked at Heero, then Relena, realised his mistake, and blushed in turn. What followed was the most unlikely reaction ever.  
  
Heero laughed loudly, then shook Serman's hand.  
  
"Heero Yuy."  
  
"Yes, I know. You're a bit of a legend Mr. Yuy...Only a few people I know of can match your skill with a MS."  
  
Introductions complete, Serman looked around at the dumbfounded pilots.  
  
"Well...I guess these people are here for their Gundams. This way Ladies and Gentlemen."

------------------------------  
  
The underground complex seemed to run in all directions, an endless labyrinth of tunnels, store-rooms and combat simulators.  
  
"We're directly under the island's highest mountain. The base is a completely contained facility, though we do have to ship in food supplies every two weeks. Living quarters are on the surface, and below we have numerous training facilities."  
  
As Une led, they passed a large door with a rather foreboding message.  
  
MUNITIONS STORAGE – NO NAKED FLAMES OR STEEL-TOED BOOTS.

-----------------------------------  
  
Eventually the nine entered a vast, empty space. Darkness fell on them like hounds after the fox, clinging, embracing, enshrouding. A cool draft blew from the depths of the unseen room and the pilots shivered slightly. Thinking, Trowa whistled, and the sound echoed back about three seconds later. Whatever it was, this room was HUGE.  
  
Barely visible, Une nodded at Serman, who walked to a bank of switches on the wall behind them and started throwing them.  
  
Straight ahead of them and about half a kilometre away the far end of the room was lit up by a bank of sodium lights. With each circuit Serman closed, a new set burned brilliantly into life, each coming nearer.  
  
Even from far away, the pilots could see black outlines being illuminated by the lights and tensed. Only one machine humanity had ever built stood on two legs.  
  
Someone breathed quietly in mixed shock and exhilaration. Heero's eyes began to brighten up as the light approached nearer. Duo licked his lips in anticipation. Wufei's hands clenched.  
  
Relena however, was staring to the left of the pilots, staring up. As she gradually became visible, the pilots noticed her and followed her line of sight.  
  
Directly beside them the dark was slightly denser than elsewhere. The distant lights gradually marched towards them, and a faint outline could be seen. There was something familiar about this shape, yet something...new, unfamiliar. Quatre blinked.  
  
"No."  
  
Une walked in front of them, only her silhouette visible against the steadily nearing light, now only three hundred yards away. Lon reached the final switch on the wall, and stopped, smiling.  
  
Une cleared her throat, a faint gleam of white indicating smiling teeth.  
  
"Preventers, I give you..."  
  
Serman flicked the switch, and the dark was instantly burned away. The pilots, blinded looked away as Une beamed, a harsh corona lighting her profile. As the burning glare faded from their sight, the six teens looked up, and gasped.  
  
"...Gundam."  
  
Gundam, so simple a word, yet with such hidden meaning. Fear, elegance and power. Yet it could never come close to carrying the presence and power of the ten mechanical gods that stood at attention against the left wall. Beyond, ranks of other mecha lined to the horizon. Leos, Aires, Taurus, three versions of the Virgo and Serpents were all on parade, each proudly stamped with the Preventers P.  
  
Despite their power however, these lesser machines were dwarfed and humbled by the first ten. They stood tall and proud, their lines instantly recognisable. Heero stepped out and lightly touched the red heel of the first. Serman stepped forward.  
  
"May I?"  
  
Une nodded, and Serman stepped forward with the confidence and poise of a grand orator.

---------------------------  
  
"Wing Zero, Custom."  
  
The Zero had...changed. Dramatically. No longer blocky and slightly squat, the V-fin on it's brow seemed to scrape the ceiling. The machine stood at ease, yet seemed ready for a fight, legs spread, hands bunched into fists. Light burned through the zero casing on the chest and cast a green veil on the onlookers. The blue around it and on the shoulders was buffed to a high finish along with the gold lining on the rims and air intakes. The waist and the armour plates below were decked out in red and scarlet. They noticed with some interest that the long, slender legs were plated with yellow and black Kevlar along with the standard white Gundanium. On the shoulders were the two machine cannons, the royal head rising between them.  
  
Oddly, no shield was carried, and the Twin Buster rifle was slung along the back of the Gundam, it's tapered butt rising behind the head. Mounted in the shoulders were the two wing vulcans. Fitting into recessed holsters in the hips were the twin handles of beam swords, their power cables neatly linked to the reactor. The armament was virtually unchanged, yet seemed more potent.  
  
Then the onlookers turned their eyes onto the most distinctive change to Zero. The large (and some would say, ungainly) Vernier backpacks had been replaced with two new units., which were bracketed onto the shoulder blades. Though longer than the old backpacks (they hung almost to the mobile suit's ankle) they were thinner, giving a machine a sleeker feel that matched it's speed and power. The frames that bracketed the engines were gold, the panels they held grey and blue. Stamped along the central panel in darker grey was the proud name WING ZERO.  
  
The same gold Kevlar had been used on parts of the engines and to further enhance the amour, the thick, blocky material adding a sporty feel to Wing Zero, which was now truly the king of Gundams.  
  
Serman smiled with pride and affection at what he had built. Heero ran a finger along line of the heel, checking for dust. It came up spotless. Heero turned and grinned faintly at Serman.  
  
"You like?"  
  
"Very much. The Kevlar's a nice touch."

--------------------------  
  
Smiling Lon turned and walked on. Like sheep, the others dumbly followed. Serman stopped beneath the next and held his hand up to a machine that seemed to absorb all light.  
  
It was painted in black, gold and white, a ghostlike entity with some features picked out in vivid red. On each arm was a scarlet shield with a razor-sharp drill bit protruding from a gold claw mechanism. From it's back rose two slender wings, raking upwards before they summitted in pointed tips. In the right hand it held the extended staff of the beam scythe.  
  
The head was bone white, contrasting starkly with the black body. Either side of the mouthplate were air intakes, their gold blades looking like vicious teeth. Bracketed to the wings and framing the head were the two Hyper Jammers, the Deathscythe's legendary stealth projector.  
  
In terms of decoration, it was simple, yet effective. Every edge was razor- sharp, almost everything on the Gundam was pointed and that which wasn't was as elegantly curved yet as lethal as the blade of a knife. It was a deathly, fearsome machine. It was magnificent.  
  
"Deathscythe Omega, a worthy steed for the God of Death."  
  
Duo's mouth hung so low you could have sworn he was about to salivate. Beside him Hilde slapped his face and he snapped his trap shut.

---------------------------  
  
Trowa's visible eye glinted as it fell on the next Gundam. Serman's tone was lower, reverential.  
  
"The fourth and greatest of the Heavyarms, the Blitz."  
  
Heavyarms Blitz was a delicious sight. In it's left hand it held a double Gatling Gun. What appeared to be two large beam sabres were slung on it's hips and the chest obviously harboured deadly secrets like it's forefathers. The short, stubby barrels of the vulcans sat on top of the torso.  
  
The observers noticed two things before this however. First, the shoulders were bulkier than before, obviously storing the Heavyarms' infamous arsenal of homing missiles. This seemed supplemented by further micro missiles in the legs.  
  
Before all this however, you saw IT. Rising straight up behind the head was the biggest cannon in existence, longer than the Gundam was tall. It was clearly an eight-barrelled Gatling gun which when in use could pivot under either shoulder to be grabbed by a free hand. Either side of the gun was a shrunken down Vayeate generator, each linking to the back of the weapon by a long conduit that resembled the magazine of a mounted machine gun.  
  
Finally an army knife was tucked into each arm, short, but effective.  
  
The whole machine was painted a dark blue, with thin green striping adding a bit of colour. The V-fin was the traditional gold of the Gundams. The Gatlings were light grey, blue and black.  
  
Trowa nodded in approval, and Lon smiled at the warm praise, before turning to Quatre.

---------------------------  
  
"Master Winner, I hope this can serve as some repayment for all the aid you have given both Earth and the colonies by your generous charitable donations."  
  
Dramatically he waved at the new Sandrock. It was now truly a machine of the desert. Most of the machine (legs, shoulders, arms) was arrayed in gleaming silver with thick bands of grey lining the edges. Pure gold was scattered over the bodywork in trace amounts. Above it's head a high plume rose, and it's shoulder armour was the same feathered variety it had briefly worn in Brussels. It was beautiful, shining, but as incandescent as a mirage.  
  
From the holsters on its back curved its signature heat shotels; long refined and wicked. They seemed slightly larger and more durable than before. On each hip was a medium-sized rifle, and riding on the forearms were what appeared to be a pair of crushing mandibles.  
  
The Sandrocks had always been the strongest of the Gundams, and the chunky arms of this version seemed to bulge with mechanical muscle. However, where the previous incarnations had gained this at expense of speed, this one seemed sleek, graceful and powerful. It was a Mobile Suit fit for a prince.  
  
"The Scarab."  
  
Quatre's eyes swelled as he looked on his beloved machine, and he turned to Serman with tears in his eyes.  
  
"This is more than enough payment Mr. Serman. I owe YOU."

-----------------------  
  
Touched and gratified, Lon walked onto the next machine. Wufei, arrogance slightly tempered by awe and anticipation looked on Altron with relief.  
  
"Nataku, he hasn't maimed you."  
  
Puzzled and slightly amused, Serman scratched the back of his head.  
  
"So he's a she? Well, like a woman, careful work and a sympathetic hand can take an body that is already magnificent to the brink of perfection."  
  
Wufei seemed surprised that anyone could respect his mecha as much as him. Bowing, Serman stepped back and allowed Wufei to inspect the Altron.  
  
Altron seemed the least changed of the Gundams. As all versions of this design, the chest-plate curved elegantly over the slatted cockpit hatch. On each arm were the two Dragon-Fangs, but they had changed. Serman pointed them out and explained.  
  
"The last set of Dragon-Fangs were only really suited for space. They were too heavy on maintenance if operating on Earth, so we took the design almost back to basics and then put them on a sugar-high."  
  
The new Dragon-Fangs were larger and bulkier, adding mass and prescience to the lightest Gundam. They were folded back on themselves so that the two vernier engines mounted on each weapon's rear faced downwards. The actual Dragon-heads were elegantly styled. Two emerald optics rested either side of a long snout that opened up to reveal spiked teeth. The tapered snouts were set between the linkages of a collapsing hydraulic mechanism that when unfolded, would hold the Dragon-head level with the Gundam's face and then propel it forward with devastating force, aided by the Verniers.  
  
Two short bronze flamethrowers jutted either side of the hand, each connected to piping which linked up with the elbow mechanism. Either side of the decorative collar around the base of the head was a small beam cannon on a pivoted extendable support. In it's hand was the collapsed strut of the beam trident and like the Deathscythe, elegantly raked wings extended from it's back. Unlike the Deathscythe however, the lower edge of these wings were lined with thin exhaust ports.  
  
The machine looked fresh and potent in it's two-tone green and white colour scheme, a scaled dragon poised to strike.  
  
Wufei turned to Serman, who seemed about to quail under his fierce expression.  
  
"What have you named her?"  
  
"The engineers wanted to call it Alto-long. I had other thoughts."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"Count the weapons. Four flamethrowers, two fangs, two cannons and the trident. A dragon with nine weapons. I call her the Hydra."  
  
Still serious faced, Wufei regarded the machine. Serman shook his head and turned away. Wufei yelled back over his shoulder, grinning.  
  
"Good choice!"

---------------------------  
  
Serman halted, smiled to himself, then walked on.  
  
"Other than the modifications to Wing, all of the other upgrades were designed by Howard and Chris Latta. This Gundam though, was my own piece of work, and I'm rather fond of it."  
  
Heero looked up.  
  
"Wing."  
  
Wing Gundam, Heero's original mecha, was often disregarded as an inferior downgrade of the Wing Zero, like the Leo was a downgrade of the Tallgeese. That crude statement however, could no longer be applied to the behemoth that rose before them.  
  
Wing's head and body were now admittedly identical to Wing Zero, and the colour scheme of red, blue gold and white was also shared, but the body only matched the Zero's in shape. The torso used mainly navy, with extensive red. The shoulder armour was three layered, red, blue and a virgin white on top. Likewise the legs were shining white, along with most of the head with the exception of blue slats and red decoration around the optics.  
  
Swooping back from it's shoulders were two long flat wings, the red, blue and white panels almost translucent, the gold framing burning under the lights. Unlike the neat fighter-style wings of Altron and Deathscythe, or the sleek engine packs of Wing Zero, these looked like they were meant to fly. It seemed that if Wing flapped them, it would lift into the air.  
  
Covering the right arm was a red and white shield, traditionally shaped like an aircraft's nose and cockpit.  
  
Held in the right had was the Buster Rifle, still less powerful than Zero's but now boasting its own reactor, unlike before. The weapon was steel grey with red trim, and a pair of spiked blue manifolds extended back from the aft of the two targeting cameras.  
  
The traditional beam sabres, machine cannons and vulcan guns could also be seen affixed to the Gundam.  
  
It was a bright, Technicolored machine, but it wasn't garish. The predominant use of white and the gigantic wings gave it a pure, angelic feel. By far, it was the most visually appealing of the Gundams after Sandrock, and gave off an aura of power and speed.  
  
Wing had finally come into it's own.  
  
Almost tearful, Serman stroked the hull of his creation. Heero sneaked a sideways glance at him.  
  
"Who's the pilot?"  
  
"There was no pilot until a week ago, but we wanted as many combat ready suits as possible, so we went to the effort of fixing it up."  
  
Heero began to realise what was being implied.  
  
"Then Une said we needed Gundams for several promising pilots. When I heard most were female, I decided Wing here was perfect for one of them."  
  
"Zero system?"  
  
"Installed, but currently locked out. I have the key required to activate it."  
  
Heero turned, nodding in approval. The other pilots were all scrambling over their Gundams, checking out their new abilities. Une was watching them with pride evident in her face. Hilde and Relena however, stood aside, chatting. Heero motioned them over and the two girls stared up at the imposing Mobile Suit."  
  
"Relena. This is for you."  
  
Despite the hubbub, those words carried as far as Deathscythe. Four heads leaned out of their cockpits and stared. Relena, overwhelmed, stepped towards Wing and touched it's foot.  
  
"Me...But..."  
  
"Wing's a good suit for a beginner. It's ideal for you."  
  
Relena looked up at her new command, and smiled in shock and awe.  
  
"Oh, my, God!"  
  
Serman was watching this moment in amusement, before feeling a hand tap him on the back. Duo was not beaming as would be expected. He looked on the verge of mutiny.  
  
"How come Relena gets a Gundam but Hilde doesn't?"  
  
Under attack, Lon looked towards Une for support, but she was fifty feet away and out of earshot. Help came from an unexpected source.  
  
Hilde stomped up to Duo and crossed her arms.  
  
"Duo, do you think I'm gonna be piloting anything with my head like this."  
  
She gestured towards the freshly changed bandages on her head. Duo grinned abashedly.  
  
"No...I just..."  
  
Hilde grinned mischievously.  
  
"Anyway, I've got my sights set on Deathscythe. As soon as these things are off, you better start hiding the keys."  
  
Duo's brain reeled for a second before Serman cleared his throat loudly.  
  
"Actually, provision has been made for Ms. Schbeiker to pilot a Gundam."  
  
The couple, already bickering like they were married, halted and stared at Lon, who waved to the final four machines, which were faintly familiar, yet radically different.

------------------------------  
  
The first was tall and proud, arrayed in gleaming mail of navy and white. The legs were thick and muscular, the torso broad and strong. On the left of the two gauntleted arms was a mighty beam cannon, and the right held a sturdy shield, the curving tip of a heat rod protruding through. A pair of beam swords were slung to the hips.  
  
It was hard to say, but the styling was...familiar. It broadly resembled a Leo, but there were aspects of each Gundam that could be seen in it, notably the ZERO System casing on the chest.  
  
The head however, gave away the mecha's identity. A smooth curving face- plate was held beneath two blue optics, and a curving red crest swept over the brow, the four prongs of a V-fin meeting underneath.  
  
Sleek, strong and powerful; there was nothing dated about this machine, but it seemed...venerable, an older knight among the more youthful Gundams, but one with a sharp sword and fire in his veins. Serman looked up at it with pride and slight humility.  
  
"It has been a true honour to work on the true grandfather of all Gundams and Military MS. This was built from the original blueprint...of the first ever Gundam."  
  
The young pilots could only stand and be awed by the new machine, chronologically the fourth in this class but actually the first. Duo's mouth hung open.  
  
"You're giving Hilde the Tallgeese!"  
  
Serman stared at him as if he had grown an extra head.  
  
"What! Good Lord no, this little toy is reserved for Zechs. Not that he knows it yet...No, Hilde's machine is right along here..."  
  
Lon walked into the space between two nearly identical machines that stood just along from Tallgeese and rapped on the foot.  
  
"I give you, the Gundams Whiteflight and Darkflight."  
  
In terms of bodywork these machines were twins, and like the new Tallgeese there was something broadly familiar about them, perhaps the armour on the arms and shoulders, and the two large air-vents that pointed down either side of the waist.  
  
"Serman," Trowa quizzed, "are you building Gundams by knocking together Taurus, Vayeate and Mercuirus parts?"  
  
Lon looked briefly insulted by Trowa's audacity.  
  
"No, though I guess it looks like that...These machines are actually built from the blueprint which the Taurus and Gemini suits were later derived from. The scientists came up with this at the same time as the Tallgeese. Not bad is it?"

-------------------------  
  
Not bad. The two suits looked brilliant. From the waist down they resembled the Gundams, though the legs seemed slightly more slender. The waist section was fitted with manoeuvring rockets like the Tallgeese and above was a torso somewhere in between the Tallgeese and Gemini suits, though they distinctly did NOT have the ZERO system installed. Instead of the faceless 'heads' of the generic Taurus they were fitted with slightly different head units, each with a proper Mohawk sensor above the V-Fin instead of the Tallgeese's Romanesque crest.  
  
The mechanism that supported the arms was identical to the standard Taurus, a giant roller-ball assembly, but it was then when you began to notice the differences between the two machines.  
  
As suggested by it's name, the Whiteflight was done up in similar colours to those of the Tallgeese; overall white and blue but with touches of the red and purple of the Sanc Kingdom. Slung to its back were a pair of engine manifolds and a large beam cannon resting in-between, like the Blitz a pivoting weapon.. Two beam sabres were racked in the shoulders and mounted to its left arm was a heat-rod shield.  
  
It seemed to have sacrificed most of the Taurus's spiked armour in turn for a more utilitarian design, but one which brought out it's striking lines dramatically. The head, like the body, was overall white, with blue edging on the air intakes that framed the face. Above the eyes was a four-bladed V- fin and a blue Mohawk sensor. It was a startlingly attractive machine.  
  
"We whipped this up for Noin, and then styled the weapons systems after the Tallgeese because of with its pilot."  
  
It was easy to grab what Lon was implying, and when you compared the Whiteflight with the Tallgeese, they did look good together, almost a family resemblance given their broadly similar colourings, weapons and styling.  
  
"We did something similar with this machine, which is Hilde's."  
  
Darkflight just as imposing that the elegant Whiteflight, though in a radically different manner, appearing smaller, lighter and swifter. It was painted in matt black, with a small amount of red and blue detailing. The shoulder armour still retained the Taurus's elegant upward sweep and cruelly sharp tip and like the Deathscythe, the remainder of the body armour was sharp, jutting.  
  
The weapons sytems were also different to Whiteflight, dropping the beam cannon for a pair of hyper-jammers. In its hand was a long staff and it carried a Buster Shield just like Duo's machine. On each arm was a flamethrower set-up like the Hydra's.  
  
The head was similar to the Whiteflight's, but had an elegant pattern around the frame like the Deathscythe Hell's. The lens on the Mohawk sensor was red instead of green, and the camera swept back to a sharp point. The engines on its back seemed longer and flatter as well, giving it a swift, demonic appearance.  
  
Hilde was overwhelmed.  
  
"This is for me?"  
  
Serman nodded slightly as she looked up at her new ride with silent joy. Duo was a bit more...verbal in his response.  
  
"WHO-HOO! The God of Death and his Angel are going for a ride!  
  
He wrapped her into an embrace and Lon looked away embarrassed as they whispered sweet nothings to each other, instead focusing on the other pilots who were gathered around the feet of the last, and perhaps the most formidable of the new Gundams. It was Heero who was the first to speak.  
  
"What the hell is this?"

-------------------------  
  
'This', was a charcoal and navy Gundam standing just as high as Wing Zero, and looking almost as demonic as the Deathscythe and Darkflight. It's 'face' seemed sleek and sharp, almost evil, and the V-fin upon its brow was as jagged as a fork of lightening. The substantial armour was elegantly curved, yet razor-edged. The array of hatches and vents on the torso almost resembled a face, that of a wrathful demon outcast from Pandemonium.  
  
Sweeping from the back, were a pair of curved engines, massive exhausts almost brushing the floor.  
  
It was very similar to a machine all present remembered, but there were differences. The legs were sleek, but not over-armoured. There was no beam- sword carried at it's side. No giant shield rested on the right arm, though the heat-rod remained, a twin tucked into the left arm. Noticeably, the green sphere of the Emotion Process Yield & Omission Neural System was absent.  
  
The shoulders now housed a pair of small calibre guns, and thin, spiked wands extended from each shoulder and forarm, making a total of eight.  
  
However, what they were looking at, was still a striking reproduction of the Gundam Epyon, despite the different colouring and weaponry. Navy blue covered the chest and face, with ash and charcoal grey detailing the remainder. As on the Epyon, the slatted air intakes were coloured in yellow.  
  
Serman was slightly hesitant to approach this machine, as if intimidated by it, but few could not be.  
  
"This, is not the Epyon, though it's very similar. This is it's twin, it's sister. This, is the Zenith."  
  
Wufei was admiring the suit, clearly the weapon of a skilled warrior. As the other pilots questioned Serman, he hazarded a guess and turned round, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard.  
  
"Trieze built this didn't he. He intended to fight in it."  
  
Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Relena shifted their eyes to Wufei, then back to Serman. Hilde and Duo had eventually finished 'necking' and had joined them in admiring the Zenith. Lon nodded at Wufei.  
  
"Yes. Just like the Epyon and the Tallgeese's 2 & 3, the Zenith was built as part of General Kushrenada's Excalibur Directive. It was meant to work as a team with the Epyon as a counter MD force, hence the spines."  
  
"Pardon."  
  
"The eight spines on the arms and shoulders; they project a counter minovsky field that nullifies planet defensor shields and can also project a beam shield."  
  
Heero was staring up at the Zenith.  
  
"Treize was playing us like pawns all along. He told me he didn't feel worthy of piloting his 'God' Epyon, but was just waiting until this Zenith was finished for him to pilot."  
  
Everyone just stood for a few seconds, drinking in the magnificent aura of the Zenith and the other Gundams, wondering for a second how drastically different history could have been with or without these weapons.

------------------------  
  
Lon was strolling back along the ranks, enjoying watching the pilots scrambling over their new toys. Trowa fell into step with him.  
  
"Are you the Lon Serman of MO-V?"  
  
"Yeah, but I only lived there for a year before being transferred here by Preventers HQ."  
  
"But you did help build the PJ Engine while you were there?"  
  
"I was part of a team, and we were building on the work of another, but yes, I did help bring the Plasma Jet Engine into the world. I also fitted Wing Zero, Wing, Tallgeese, Zenith and the two Flights with various versions of it."  
  
"Fast, light and non-polluting – quite a development."  
  
As they turned around by Wing Zero and began walking back towards the Zenith Trowa finally brought the conversation round to his way of thinking.  
  
"These are some pretty impressive modifications you've come up with. It's surprising that such a 'green' engineer could be so creative."  
  
Serman, eyeing Trowa silently, nodded for him to continue. The acrobatic youth paused, as if choosing his words like diamonds.  
  
"When I was infiltrating the Barton Foundation, I overheard Dekim mentioning Quinze trying to obtain powerful MS in the last days of the war...MS that could turn the tide of the war...MS from MO-V..."  
  
He left the obvious question hanging. Smirking, Lon answered cryptically.  
  
"Once again, I've built on the work of some good friends, who have given me their whole-hearted approval."  
  
Trowa stopped to mull over this information as Serman walked on, before being halted by Hilde, who seemed overjoyed.  
  
"How's Darkflight suit you?"  
  
"Perfect. It's like having my own Deathscythe."  
  
"Pretty much, but it can do some things that Duo's machine can't do."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"Well it's got flamethrowers, and an anti-MD system like the Zenith. Plus it's faster."  
  
Hilde looked up in anticipation at the impressive Darkflight before looking back at Serman with a slight smirk.  
  
"So, tell me, Mr Serman? Why does Heavyarms have caterpillar tracks arround the edge of it's shoulders? Just an observation, but Sandrock also seems to have tyres either side of its head."  
  
This part of the conversation had not passed unnoticed. The other pilots looked to Serman for an explanation. Only Une seemed unsurprised. He grinned.  
  
"Pop quiz kids. Who was the first actor to speak in a motion picture?"  
  
Duo stuck his hand up.  
  
"Al Jolson, in the Jazz Singer."  
  
Serman was now toying with a device that resembled a detonator.  
  
"Correct, and those first words were?"  
  
"You ain't seen nothing yet."  
  
"You said it."  
  
Serman depressed the button on the remote and a mechanical sound the Prevnters were now very familiar with resonated through the cavernous underground hanger.  
  
The sound of Transformation.  
  
Slowly, they turned around and reacted in mixed ways. Quatre stared, Trowa and Heero blinked. Wufei and Relena wore masks of disbelief, while Hilde looked smug.  
  
Duo's face slowly split into its usual manic grin.  
  
"Oh, yeah!"

--------------------------  
  
Evening had come to Mt. St. Hillary, and Wheeljack's hours of work on the fusion cannon had amounted to very little. Though he had taken most of the weapon to pieces the central unit, which housed the elusive power-supply, refused to be cracked.  
  
Frustrated, Wheeljack pounded the offending weapon with his sledgehammer repeatedly, with no effect. After venting his fury on the unyielding device, he finally turned back to the notes he had composed throughout the afternoon.  
  
Date: Feb 17th AC199.  
  
Project#: 1340928  
  
Subject: Weapon repair, Fusion Cannon.  
  
Initial Notes:  
  
Discussion with Megatron has prompted me to believe the Fusion Cannon is simply what it says it is, a micro particle accelerator which generates high-speed collisions between particles travelling in opposite directions, causing nuclear fusion and the release of massive amounts of energy. Said particles are admitted through the cannon rear via what I assume to be an electromagnetic containment field and are accelerated in arcs within the main body. It is reasonable to assume as well that a sub-space portal is contained in the main body to allow the containment and discharge of anti- matter. However, my own fusion weapons have required generators the size of buildings to power them. Concordantly, I eagerly await discovering what power source resides within the cannon.  
  
Chronology:  
  
13:10 – Work commences with the measuring and analysis of the cannon.  
  
13.43 – From the barrel I remove 4 Deritek XY-2 Radiation converters, which I assume convert the harmful gamma radiation into energon, which is then used to supplement the on-board computer's power supply. Very efficient. The actual barrel is shorn off, with only the XY-2s remaining due to their high heat tolerances.  
  
14.56 – After 1 Earth hour's effort I am able to remove the electromagnets from the aft molecular intake, and set them aside for later study. The intake housing is damaged Durasteel, easily cut through and removed.  
  
15.23 – Analysis of central cannon unit suggests gaining access to the internals will be simple. The outer Durasteel armour is heavily cracked.  
  
15.32 – True to my guess, the armour is removed with little effort. Internally I am able to remove the subspace harmonics package with little difficulty. This is attached to a unit about the size (proportionally) and shape of the ball used in the Earth sport 'American Football'. At the aft end is an intake for the molecules, and a thick band runs around the device's equator.  
  
17.45 – After careful work, I am able to locate and remove the particle accelerator unit. It is in the large equatorial metal hoop and fits easily over my forearm like a giant bracelet. On the forward edge is a number of small holes, I assume for the venting of fusion energy. On the underside are a series of power conduits which connect to the football-core.  
  
NOTE: Unlike the remainder of the cannon, which is extremely damaged, the core unit is in pristine order.  
  
19.15 – Frustratingly, the core unit is constructed of a material virtually identical to the human element Adamantium; supposedly indestructible once set. All of my cutting tools have been ineffective in opening it.  
  
Wheeljack picked up the core unit and tossed it in his hand. Whoever had built this thing must have intended for it to be opened some point in the future; but how?  
  
The only clue he had so-far was a seam down the centre of the device, directly under where the accelerator sat; presumably this should be where it came apart, but everything from pry-bars to magnetic clamps had failed in opening it. At either end of the unit were five tiny data-ports, the exact size required to accept a Transformer's fingers. Obviously Wheeljack had stuck his hands in these ports like a infant human with a wall-socket and like that same infant had received an electric shock for it.  
  
'Perhaps I'm going about this wrong...'  
  
Still tossing the unit like he was going to throw it Wheeljack began pacing around his lab.  
  
'Firstly, who built this cannon? Not the Decepticons, records show it was used before the factions were formed.  
  
Secondly, why Adamantium? It's notoriously hard to manipulate and there's no record of it being used by either Transformer faction with the exception of one item and Prime always carries that around in his chest...'  
  
Wheeljack stalled mid-thought and slapped himself in the head.  
  
"Bugger me with a fish-fork!"  
  
Realization dawning on him Wheeljack quickly opened the door and ran down the corridor as fast as he could.  
  
"I've got to find Megatron."

----------------------------  
  
"How's our visitor?"  
  
Ratchet looked up from his equipment.  
  
"Stable Prime, but really weird."  
  
"Define weird."  
  
"Weird like I can't figure who the inferno he is or where he's from."  
  
The Autobot commander cocked his optic rim. Ratchet motioned him over to his terminal. He pointed at a read-out.  
  
"Right - he's giving off a signature energy wave, but it doesn't match Autobot or Decepticon frequencies. Secondly...here..."  
  
Prime put his optic to the microscope Ratchet motioned towards.  
  
"This is a sample of his armour. Normal right? Except that is a totally different material to anything on our planet or this. He's not a cybertronian. And when we switch the microscope to electron mode...Everything goes white."  
  
Prime looked at his medic in shock...  
  
"He's irradiated."  
  
"Was...given the rate of electron degeneration I'd say somewhere less than a vorn ago, but whatever it was, it was big."  
  
"A battle."  
  
"Could be, but it would have had to have been a shitstorm of a war. We're talking more power than the total Autobot and Decepticon armaments...cubed."

-------------------------------  
  
When the Preventers had purchased Isla Nublar from the Central American government several years ago, a second 'property' was included in the land package.  
  
'Property' defined an island chain about eighty miles south-southwest of Nublar, known to the locals as 'Las Cinco Muertes'.  
  
The Five Deaths; tied to a legend akin to the labours of Hercules, of a brave warrior who was offered the choice of five means of execution, and elected to take them all; one on each island. Crushing, drowning, burning, beheading and suffocation.  
  
Like Nublar, each of the deaths were volcanically active, but seen from the air, it was easy to tell that each had once been part of the rim of a much larger volcano, one which had all but disappeared beneath the Pacific's waters.  
  
Islas Pena, Matanceros, Tacano, Muerta and Sorna. All names of death and destruction.  
  
Fitting really.  
  
Of the five, Sorna was the largest, situated halfway along the run where the chain swung from south-east to north-east. The entire coast of the island was either lined with cliffs or the long arcs of sandy beaches, and inland the terrain either collapsed into the 'sink' of the large lagoon known as the Ondo Channel, or rose up into large mountains. Narrow, high ridges ran across the island, decorated with foreboding names such as 'Crest of the Fallen', once the edges of craters. Heavy rainforest blanketed the hills, with wide open grasslands on the lower reaches and hardy conifers on the slopes of the principle mountains, the San Fernandos.  
  
Seventeen miles across at it's widest point and sixteen miles from the northern tip of Trinidad Point to the coast in the south, it was nearly one hundred and ninety square miles of overgrown rainforest, open grasslands and mountainous valleys.  
  
For the uses of the Preventers, Sorna and its sisters were perfect.

-----------------------------  
  
The only point where the island terrain gradually sloped down to the ocean was on the southwest, where a long, narrow meadow separated the foliaged hills from the edge of a small estuary, the many tiny streams that fed into the pool making this a favoured watering-hole with the island wildlife. Bisecting the field was a rutted track that struck out to the north and curved around the coast out of sight. Not far inland from this track the trees rose up again, their thick canopy casting the jungle into darkness despite the blazing sunlight of the early evening.  
  
Birds chirped in the trees, and twisted animal cries echoed among severed stumps, darkened hillocks and sudden gullies. The air was moist, heavy with moisture and the smell of nature. Primal, secret, hidden. A Lost World forgotten by man and time.  
  
There was a sudden crash and a shrill scream as a small figure fell from one of the higher branches. The tiny monkey landed unharmed on the ground, and looked around, judging it's safety.  
  
All clear...Suddenly the monkey's ears pricked up, and it hunched defensively, whipping it's head back and forth, sniffing for danger through it's large nostrils.  
  
In the darkness, something moved. Rays of light that played through the foliage shone on dappled skin, a predator hiding just outside of this tiny clearing. The monkey, intimidated made moves to leave.  
  
An animal growl was heard, a low and threatening purr. Leaves rustled as they were shoved aside by something large, nearer with a calm and deadly steadiness. The monkey's keen eyes soon spotted its stalker, barely visible through shrouding boughs. Trying to frighten its pursuer, the monkey hissed like a snake, flinging its mouth open and bearing sharp teeth.  
  
It was a stalemate, predator and prey facing each other off...or so the monkey though.  
  
Something moved, and the real prey was revealed. In the open field beyond the treeline a swift something darted across the grass with the speed of a gazelle, swift and near-silent.  
  
The predator roared, and the monkey was suddenly terror-struck by the beast that burst out of the trees towards it. Two blazing eyes full of deadly malice sped towards it, and the tiny mammal shrieked and ran for its life as the dinosaur thundered past it and towards the open terrain.

-------------------------------  
  
Trees exploded outward as the alien beast smashed out of darkness and into light. Sunlight made a dazzling display on its hide of metal, and caterpillar tracks ground into the dirt with brutal power.  
  
The All-Terrain tank rode over a hillock, scattering animals and birds, the roar of it's engine challenging the silver and grey vehicle it powered after, skidding and sliding along the game-trail.  
  
Despite it's size, the dark-green tank soon drew near to the armoured attack truck at nearly 60mph. As it came level the fearsome tri-cannon armament could be seen, surely enough to strike terror into whoever drove the eight-wheeled transport carrier it raced.  
  
Not so. With a chuckle of laughter the carrier's pilot downshifted and took a position behind the tank, serving around and up the other-side, pulling fast ahead. Behind, the tank roared and struggled to gain ground.

-------------------  
  
It soon had its chance. Shortly, the game trail began to slope upwards, climbing above the plains on the shoulder of a thin but high-ridge that rose above them. As the gradient increased, the mighty 8WD carrier began to fall behind, while the tank's All-Terrain caterpillar treads pushed it higher, faster and further.  
  
The track struck out for a narrow pass into the actual island, where the ridge almost met the southern point of the San Fernandos, the only actual mountain range on the island. In between was a tiny cleft that was measured in terms of meters rather than kilometres. Neck and neck, the two machines skidded west into the gully, struggled up the final ascent, and halted on the crest of the pass. With a final rumble, the engines ceased and silence fell, gradually replaced by the hiss of hot metal cooling and contracting.

----------------------  
  
With a pneumatic click, the crash-bars on the front of the carrier split apart, exposing a red cockpit hatch behind them which in turn, collapsed and ejected a single human. Meanwhile, a second figure had dropped out of an access hatch on the tank's underside.  
  
Quatre and Trowa high-fived each-other, each flushed and panting from the exhilaration of the chase. Bending over, hands to knees to catch his breath, Quatre grinned up at Trowa.  
  
"Nice ambush."  
  
Trowa nodded slightly, smiling faintly.  
  
"Nice driving."  
  
He gestured around them.  
  
"Even nicer view."  
  
As Quatre recovered, he was finally able to take in their surroundings. Behind them the ground dropped off into the valley and estuary they had just negotiated; across the narrow, turbulent waters was the bottom end of the San Ferandos and a plateau that jutted out of the forested mountainsides, overhanging the ocean far below. Rugged, dramatic; but not exactly beautiful.  
  
Ahead of them however, directly west, was something different. On their left was the opposite side of the ridge, which headed south and then bend west for about four miles, before cutting north again, right across their line of sight. To their right were the San Fernados, and between them the two pieces of high ground enclosed a wide, grassy valley, which sloped gently away from the pass towards the bent-back ridge.  
  
About two miles before reaching it however, the land dropped off sharply into a wide, deep valley which ran parallel to the ridge and then cut through it, the only way out of this enclosed section of Sorna besides the pass they stood on. Over the top of the shallow ridge they could see the waters of the Ondo Channel, shining in the pre-dusk light as the sun gradually dipped towards the western horizon.  
  
It could have been pastoral, were it not for the heavy trees that clung to the area around the valley, ranging from mahogany to redwood, pine to oak. Large birds perched around the stream through the valley, squawking to each other with loud alien cries. There was not a single sign of human influence.  
  
The net result was magnificent and terrible, inspiring yet frightening. And very, very beautiful. The two just stood there for a second, feeling like intruders to a secret place, an island paradise. Perhaps even, this was the Eden from which Adam and Eve were banished by a wrathful yet loving Almighty.  
  
Eventually managing to tear his eyes away from the view, Trowa pulled an Ordinance Survey map from his pocket and unfolded it, consulted. After a few seconds, he pointed towards the distant bluffs.  
  
"The map shows that there's an abandoned complex down in there, about a mile and a half from the bottom of the cliffs."  
  
Quatre caught on to the implication and pulled out his own map.  
  
"First one there wins?  
  
"You game?"  
  
You're on."  
  
Each allowed the other a minute to decide on the best course before scrambling back into their machines, Quatre simply walking in and Trowa scrambling up a ladder. With a roar the engines came to life and the two vehicles lurched slightly, coiling to leap on the starting line. Quatre, on the left, called them out.  
  
"3-2-1-GO!"  
  
Giant wheels pummelled the ground and treads spun and caught. Like thoroughbreds on the Derby, the two machines thrust ahead.

---------------------  
  
Quatre quickly began to swing away from Trowa, aiming up the valley sides towards the jungle. Trowa's tank however, powered straight down the valley, ploughing through swamps and streams, sometimes sinking up to it's suspension in the quagmire, always pulling itself back up.  
  
Running on firmer ground, Quatre reached the treeline and began to skirt the valley Trowa kept getting bogged down in behind him. Soon however, Quatre began to face increasingly larger trees in his path and frustrated, kicked in a set of rocket boosters, using sheer speed and weight to over- ride anything in his path.  
  
Trowa meanwhile remained unfazed, forcing his way up out of the marshland and beginning a long, gradual climb towards a thick band of forest ahead of him and the cliffs a mile beyond. As he hit the treeline the three Gatling drums on his machine thundered into voice, creating a clear path towards the top of the rise.  
  
Together, the two machines tore parallel lines through the narrow bar of jungle, eventually breaking through the encroaching undergrowth. Ahead, the land ran level for half a mile, before dropping off two hundred feet, and in the valley below, faint grey structures stood mired in the rainforest that were divided from the foot of the cliffs by a wide swathe of chest- high elephant grass.  
  
Quatre's grey carrier, about a quarter of a mile ahead of Trowa's tank and rapidly gaining ground, suddenly swung through ninety degrees left towards the entrance to a rocky grey canyon.  
  
Trowa's machine, now mud-splattered and covered in the detritus of the jungle slammed to a halt on the edge of the cliffs and watched Quatre drive off in a completely different direction. Inside, Trowa pulled out his map and consulted it. Lo and behold, the canyon Quatre had vanished into led straight down onto the plain below, from where you could spit to the ruined complex.  
  
"Sneaky little guy...Well, two can play at that game."  
  
Trowa crunched into reverse gear and backed off from the cliff-edge.

---------------------  
  
Quatre meanwhile was pounding down the steeply sloped canyon, which was barely wide enough for his ride to fit through. After scuffing the paintwork innumerable times and demolishing several rocks unfortunate enough to get in his way, Quatre reached the bottom of the run and sped out onto the plain, the roofs of the complex visible just ahead. Suddenly, his headset went off in his ears and he heard Trowa...yelling?  
  
"BONZAI!"  
  
Momentarily distracted/stunned, Quatre stared in astonishment as Trowa's tank sailed off the bluff ahead and above him, soaring out into the void like a graceful bird. Soon however, gravity looked up at Trowa and asked him "what the hell he was playing at" and told him to get back down immediately. Complying to Sir Issac Newton's theories, the tank began to curve down in an elegant parabola.  
  
Engrossed watching this seemingly suicidal action, Quatre didn't notice his machine coasting to a halt as he took his feet off the accelerators.  
  
Suddenly...the tank changed. The main body stood straight, weapons re- arranged themselves, legs appeared and caterpillar treads became arms. Still in a freefall, the Gundam Heavyarms Blitz fired it's Vernier rockets to slow it's descent, before snapping back into tank form just before impact. Unscathed, Trowa's machine drove on and reached the wrecked compound in seconds as Quatre and the Gundam Sandrock Scarab watched on in silence, before a number of colourful Arabic curses turned the radio-waves blue..

-------------------------  
  
Elsewhere, another race was being waged. Two delta-winged aircraft catapulted along the island's rim with reckless speed, sliding past numerous peaks and jagged outcrops.  
  
The aircraft were each Mig-31 Firefoxes, or at least resembled them, one matt-black and white, the other cream and green. The long nose-cones were both pale, and above each nose was a panel of shining obsidian. Astern the long, thin fuselage bloomed into the engine housing, which sprouted razor- tipped wings and stabilises. From each machine trailed a long blue streak of fire, vented exhaust which gradually dispersed in the stiff sea breeze.  
  
Under both plane's wings large pieces of machinery protruded, one a pair of folded over weapons which resembled crane-arms, the other a pair of red and gold claws. Two beam cannons nestled between the two vertical stabilizers on the green jet, while it's black twin had a pair of grenade launchers fixed in the same place.  
  
They were sleek, avenging angels of death, terrible and beautiful as they crossed over and under each other, vying for supremacy, trying to push ahead.  
  
To the two pilots they must have seemed to be riding on a razor's edge. On one side the mountain ridges dropped straight down into the churning sea, on the other they collapsed into the jungle. It was a suitably striking and barren place for a contest of skill and power between two machines.

--------------------------  
  
Together the Deathscythe Omega and Altron Hydra skimmed past a cliff of towering stone, and from this peak two mecha watched on. They were similar in bodies and structure, yet seemed markedly different. One was coloured in dark reds and blues, massive engines rising from it's back. The other was similarly coloured and structured, yet used more white paint and boasted a pair of red, silver, blue and gold wings, shining in the dawn. Despite their differences, they were both imposing and elegant. Behind them, the transport carrier that had carried the six machines some eighty-miles stood waiting on the shaved off peak of this mountain.  
  
Wing Gundam Gabrielle stood closer to the cliff-edge, looking down on the raging waves that dashed against the feet of stone, relentlessly beating the island until they reduced it to nothing in the distant future.  
  
Behind Wing stood the Zero, which suddenly took a step toward its younger brother. Over the comm.-link between the two machines two voices, the first male, the second female talked privately.  
  
"Are you sure you want to do this?"  
  
In Wing's cockpit Relena grinned wanly at Heero's face in the monitor.  
  
"Yeah, best way to learn, jump in the deep end – literally."  
  
"Don't worry. I'll control Wing through the ZERO initially; give you time to adjust to the G-forces, then I'll gradually give more control over to you."  
  
Relena nodded nervously.  
  
"Wish me luck."  
  
Heero tried to reassure her.  
  
"You know this stuff, and you don't need luck because Trowa promised me you'd do good."  
  
Without warning, Zero suddenly stepped towards Wing and pushed it over the edge! As Relena yelped Wing began falling headfirst towards the rapidly nearing ocean, gaining speed with each second.  
  
Via the modified ZERO-MD programme the same image was relayed to both humans. Despite pointing straight down Relena's body was pushed against the back of the seat by the acceleration, allowing her a perfect view of her apparent death rushing towards her. Heero could see the rocks that thrusted out of the water like Trojan spears flying towards him, but waited to take appropriate action. In his right-hand view screen a sub-window projected Relena's terrified face, yet amazingly she did not scream.  
  
Heero began counting slowly.  
  
"5...4...3...2...1"

---------------------  
  
Wing had less than a hundred feet to fall and Relena was convinced that she was going to be skewered on the rocks when she felt the Gundam shift around her.  
  
Wing's new transformation was even more impressive than before. As the head retracted the torso pivoted through ninety degrees, the legs locking onto the back. The shield attached to this section to become the nose as the arms folded into landing gear. The transformation almost complete, the Buster-Rifle's barrel attached to the shield and the actual weapon lay along the Gundam's back, looking like a very large and powerful engine. Finally the wings spread out and Wing Gundam flew for the first time in years, banking hard to the north and soaring across the ocean with a bird's grace.  
  
Relena, eyes squeezed shut and awaiting the fatal impact, opened her eyes and saw the Pacific's surface flashing beneath her. Amazed she blinked and pushed some loose hair out of her face, before taking in the beauty visible through the monitors.  
  
Wing's down thrust at this low altitude created massive walls of water to be thrusted up around it, water which was vaporised to steam by the rocket exhaust. All Relena could see however, was the sunlight burning on the ocean and the undulating swell of the jungle on the cliffs around her as Heero forced Wing through a tight canyon between Isla Sorna and an offshore outcrop that rose almost as high as the island. Bringing the nose up to pass over a small rise, Heero pointed the aircraft east and pushed his accelerators to the max.  
  
With a roar and a rush Wing blasted off at an extreme angle, it's exhaust punching a deep hole in the ocean behind it. Forced right back into the seat as if a giant's hand was on her Relena grunted and went wide-eyed as first the jagged outline of Isla Tacano rocketed far below her, followed by the tiny atoll of Isla Pena. As Heero banked the mecha-jet high above Pena he rammed the collectives forward and rammed Wing down towards Sorna at a near vertical angle, allowing Relena to feel G-forces that could only be exceeded by space-combat.  
  
Again, as Wing neared the ocean, Heero made a drastic manoeuvre, punching in the airbrakes and slinging the machine to port, taking it away from the ocean and into a narrow fjord, easing it through multiple valleys and gullies until Wing passed the island rim and the splendour of Isla Sorna was unveiled before Relena like a blanket.  
  
"Whoa..."  
  
Smaller mountains and hills, all draped with lush greenery unfolded towards the lagoon far away and below. Beyond they rose up again to the opposite rim. As Wing dipped lower into the crater at a more sedate speed fields and meadows became visible, gorges spliting the island and cascading waterfalls plunging into lakes and rivers. No-one could see this view and not be awestruck.  
  
Choosing the moment when Relena was at her most relaxed state of mind and body (she was to overwhelmed to be tense), Heero let go of his controls and sat back, arms crossed. He had given Relena the push, now to see if she swam or drowned.  
  
Relena was admiring the view when the whole-world turned crazy. Wing pitched forward and the mountains, jungle and sky span around her as it went into a tail-spin. Reacting, she tried to yank back on the collectives, but they wouldn't budge, locked by the dive and Wing's weight.  
  
"WhatdoIdo, whatdoIdo," she panted as the ground loomed large before her. Heero broke her out of her panic by yelling sharply over the intercom.  
  
"Relax, don't panic and do what Trowa told you."  
  
Flustered, Relena nodded vigorously, her eyes darting across the consoles.  
  
"RELAX!"  
  
Forcing herself to calm, Relena stomped on the two foot panels and felt the kick of the engines letting themselves out. As Wing gained airspeed the wings generated more lift, and she was able to pull the collectives back and coax the Gundam out of it's deathspin, sending it shooting along the lagoon towards the open canyon and the sea beyond.  
  
Still recovering from the shock, Relena finally saw what she had achieved. She pulled back on the left joystick and Wing crabbed to port. She corrected the move and sensed the Gundam's weight beneath her, could hear and feel the roaring engines behind her head following her commands. Experimenting, she rolled forward slightly, and Wing gracefully crept down and parted the waters with the end of its landing gear.  
  
Relena blinked in astonishment. She had done it...She could do it...Overjoyed, she screamed in triumph, and led Wing into a barrel-roll.

--------------------------  
  
From the outside, it was a beautiful sight. The setting sun painted the sky in red, blue and purple, and the lagoon reflected this on it's tranquil surface. Wing, a blazing, hurtling comet, blasted across the waters going through all manner of contortions. As Relena crowed with joy in his headset, Heero smiled and watched on from the top of the mountain.  
  
'Times like this,' he thought to himself, 'it's good to be alive.'

--------------------------  
  
The AC age had marked a new beginning for humanity, the era of 'the final frontier.' The years had changed from BC to AD to mark the birth of Christ, and from AD to AC to mark humanity's new goal; to join their saviour in the heavens.  
  
In the two centuries that followed, technology had leapt ahead as quickly as ever; sixty years from the Wright Brother's first flight till the moon- landing. Sixty years. Since then propulsion to the stars had shifted from chemical rocketry, to the revolutionary Minovsky/Vernier engine, and now the first of the new PJ engines.  
  
Likewise, man's aspirations had shifted. From exploring space and new worlds, he had shrunken his objectives to simply living in space. And why?  
  
Space itself, was simply too great, too vast to be explored for such a fledgling species. Even light, fastest being in nature, takes centuries to travel to wondering eyes from those burning stars in the night sky. The ultimate goal, had always been faster-than-light travel, but despite the evidence demonstrated by mythical franchises like 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek', that goal had rapidly been accepted as impossible.  
  
So man had turned in on itself, in order to carve out an empire in its miniscule corner of the cosmos. Rather than pushing beyond Sol's light he had filled Low Earth Orbit with infinite satellites, and littered the five Lagrange points with hundreds of colonies. Numerous meteorites were towed into orbit for exploitation of their rare minerals and the elusive moon was populated.  
  
With so much life in space so close to the motherland of Earth, people rarely ventured further into space. The Mars Terraforming project was the notable exception. Preliminary work had begun to establish facilities on the planet that would pump massive amounts of pollution into the atmosphere to melt the polar ice and create an Earth-like climate. Ironically, the Greenhouse effect that had almost destroyed humanity was now being turned to create a new home, but one which would not be fully populated for decades.  
  
Further out the mark of man was less and less. The only vessels that journeyed as far as Jupiter were the fuel-guzzling behemoths of the Jupiter Mining Corporation; the 'White Giant' and the 'Red Dwarf', gathering and transporting home the elusive Helium-3 gas that had powered the After Colony age. There were-refuelling depots and small communities on some of the gas giant's moons, Ganymede and Titan, but the total populous was less than the 1.1 Million who lived on each Lagrange colony.  
  
In the minds of many the 'last outpost' of humanity in space was the asteroid belt between Sol-4 and 5. Here were the two asteroid colonies MO-4 and MO-5, from where the new PJ engine that would reduce inter-planet journeys to mere hours had its origins. This area of space was active enough to allow rumours to arise of a 'Bermuda Triangle' effect in one region, along with the persisting myth of an automated MD factory known only as Vulcanus...  
  
However, despite the rapidly growing activity on and around Mars, it was still possible for large spacecraft to hide in its dark-side and not be noticed by mankind's eyes and ears.  
  
Today, that was the game of the Cybertronian Vessels Salvation and Vengeance, having arrived by proving the 'faster-than light' nay-sayers dead wrong.

------------------------------  
  
The Decepticon Crusier Vengeance was laid down at the Kokular Shipyards on the same-day as her predecessor, the Nemisis was launched, and was initially planned to be a twin of the infamous battleship. A sudden spate of victories for the Decepticons however caused the plans for the vessel to be drastically enlarged. In human terms, Vengence was the 'Queen Mary' to the 'Titanic' of the Nemesis; longer, broader, more heavily armed but only slightly faster due to her bulk.  
  
The bridge was also more elaborate. Set high above the flight deck in the front of the giant stern assembly, the viewports allowed a grandstand view of the three-thousand ft. long flight-deck, a long, tapering snout which strode ahead, before sweeping down into the hooked nose of the prow.  
  
The commander's chair was on a raised dais at the immediate stern of the bridge, above it a giant glass bubble that allowed the captain to look up to the gargantuan vessel's stern-fin behind him, and the five-hundred foot high Decepticon sigils plastered on either side of it, intended to further encourage him to victory when the chips were down and the battle all but lost.

--------------------------------------  
  
For Shockwave, those giant emblems were a constant reminder of the responsibility that pressed down on his shoulders every minute of every day. If not for the fact that it would have destabilised morale he would have had all such sigils burned off the ship long ago, rather than have them forever stare down at him.  
  
Currently, he was engaged in activities which brought a disquieting 'pleasure' to his otherwise ordered and logical mind; simply being alone and observing the splendour of space, perhaps with a cube of refined and fortified energon at his side. For the current leader of the Decepticons, it allowed a...pleasant few breems escape from the burdens he had to bear.  
  
Just off to his command's starboard he could see the golden hull of the equally powerful vessel Salvation. Most likely his counterpart and good...friend Ultra Magnus was currently engaged in battle-drill, or generating a new strategy for proposing peace to the warring Transformer factions on Sol-3, rather than waste time in this manner.  
  
The com-link in his throne's arm chimed softly, and a familiar face appeared.  
  
'Speak of the Devourer and he appears', Shockwave mused as Magnus nodded respectfully.  
  
"Busy Shockwave?"  
  
"Sadly no, I would prefer to engage in activity than waste time doing little or nothing."  
  
To Shockwave's surprise Magnus chuckled.  
  
"What, you actually don't like sitting up there doing nothing? For at least three breems? Every astrocycle?"  
  
If Shockwave had a brow he would have wrinkled it in confusion. Magnus explained.  
  
"You can't see into the bridge of the Salvation because it's at deck level. I on the other-hand can and often see you enjoying some quiet time way up there. It seems to be very restful, so I'm doing likewise. What energon is it?"  
  
"Energon?"  
  
Magnus held up a similar cube to Shockwave's, a vivid purple.  
  
"Reactor Waste from Iacon city."  
  
Shockwave's optic flashed for a second.  
  
"Undrinkable filth for the masses."  
  
He held up his own pastel-green cube, cupping it with an aloof air.  
  
"Methane crystals grown in Megatron's private province in Kokular. An excellent vintage."  
  
Magnus shook his head, mirth in his eyes.  
  
"Weak refreshment for the higher-classes. This will put fire in your spark."  
  
"I may be old-fashioned Magnus but I'd rather a cold-spark to one with fire in it and a dissolved chassis."  
  
Magnus blinked, then chuckled, then burst out into a belly-laugh.  
  
"I don't believe it Shockwave! You just made a joke!"  
  
Shockwave's body went rigid.  
  
'Primus above. I've sunk as low as him.'  
  
As Magnus's laughter dwindled he smiled slightly, a reflective expression on his face.  
  
"The Vengence looks beautiful from here Shockwave. Purple goes well with the stars, reflects their radiance nicely."  
  
"I do not concur. The Salvation's gold is far more impressive when in synchrony with this red-planet's light."  
  
Magnus nodded in thanks to the compliment and reached to turn off his end of the comm.  
  
"To each his own. Evening Shockwave; enjoy your methane.  
  
"Likewise Ultra Magnus."

-----------------------  
  
As the screen blinked out Shockwave turned and stared towards the system's distant star, and the planet that surely lay ahead. As he thought he began to drain the dregs of the energon through his finger intakes.  
  
'What will we find on Sol-3. The Transformer war in full rage, with two leaders unshaken in their desire to win? Or one faction victorious and the other subjugated...'  
  
Shockwave's musings were disrupted by a respectful chime from the bridge hatch-way. Laying the drink down he replied.  
  
"Enter."  
  
The door slid open and the darkened bridge was lit by a faint golden hue from this new Transformer, who saluted crisply. Shockwave returned it.  
  
"Sunstorm."

----------------------  
  
Sunstorm externally was a generic Seeker, one of the millions that had loyally fought the Decepticon 's war under both Scorpinok and Megatron. However, it could easily be seen that he was...different. Unlike the other Seekers - whose bodies were painted in a variety of colours, his gave off a distinct aura, and was plated in gold and silver, with no paint staining his form, not even a sigil on his wings. Attention would also have been drawn to his amber (rather than the traditional red) optics. Despite this, he was a Decepticon to his core...or Starscream's.  
  
Early during the Autobot/Decepticon alliance, Shockwave had attempted to 'clone' several of the most powerful of the missing Transformers. To this end, he had gathered samples of their 'genetic'; a fluid that flowed through each Transformer, and used the information therein to create identical sparks, which were then allowed to 'mature' in culture growth vats. By this process, liquid metal added to the vat was gradually shaped into a new form by the spark itself, becoming a direct clone of the lost Autobot or Decepticon. They would have all of their personality traits, physical and mental powers, though none of the memories.  
  
Shockwave had a second objective in mind however. As each spark matured, he had downloaded as much raw data into its 'memory' as he could. Data, from Vector Sigma...  
  
Attempts to install the ancient Transformer supercomputer into either the Vengence or Salvation had failed, the Transformer technology incompatible with the computer. Transformers that had tried to decipher much of the unknown information in Vector Sigma had likewise nearly been destroyed by the data feedback. Shockwave had hoped that by connecting his growing clones to the supercomputer it would help them develop compatible circuitry, consequently the clones could help translate much of the unknown data in Vector Sigma's memory banks, data that could be vital in destroying Unicron.  
  
Sadly, most of the finished clones, though able to understanding Sigma, did not have enough electrical power to keep their core processors – now smaller Vector Sigmas in themselves – active. The duplicates of Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, Megatron and Soundwave had all gone into fatal shutdown seconds after being activated.  
  
Starscream's clone however had survived, because Shockwave had realised the problem and installed an experimental solar reactor in him prior to activation. The net result therefore of Starscream's genetic base, the parental influence of Vector Sigma, and a hyper-powerful energy-source, was Sunstorm; calm, collected, with all of Starscream's intelligence, battle- skill and ability.  
  
And the...other power. Sunstorm's knowledge of Vector Sigma grew slowly, so he did not over-reach himself. The further he went however, the more his own...supernatural abilities grew. Precognition, a near telepathic sense, and the odd ability to project solar energy from his hands might only be the tip of the iceberg of his abilities.

---------------------------  
  
Shockwave looked on his most senior and favoured lieutenant.  
  
"You are troubled Sunstorm?"  
  
Sunstorm bit his lip and scratched his cockpit, as if something was itching within his very spark.  
  
"A power, a transformer's spark...nearby. Great, powerful; but tainted. I feel him, near death, but somehow alive..."  
  
Sunstorm looked up and locked eyes with Shockwave.  
  
"This Transformer reeks of Unicron's influence!"

----------------------------  
  
Space. Deep, rolling, black, and empty. An endless vacuum of nothingness, the eternal void...and a voice. Rich and rolling; humans would describe this voice as 'godly', a voice that hinted at boundless wisdom, infinite knowledge and power.  
  
"MY SERVANT..."  
  
The transformer that floated in the void, an incandescent ghost, opened his eyes. As he came to consciousness, the eternal voice was suddenly tainted with brooding malice and evil.  
  
"...YOU HAVE FAILED..."  
  
The Decepticon gasped in fear as he stared into the maw of a being he knew could crush him in a second. Cold, raw terror surged along each of his circuits as he prostrated himself.  
  
"Master," trembled Onslaught.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...

--------------------------------  
  
A/N: Bet you didn't see that one coming! He, he, he! If you're nice and give me lots of feedback, CHAPTER 3: FAUSTUS, will go online soon. Hope to hear from you soon!  
  
PS. In case you haven't got it...Isla Nublar, Isla Sorna, Los Cinqo Muertes...WELCOME TO JURASSIC PARK!  
  
Bye for now!


	4. Faustus

ERA OF CHANGE II; THE ARMY OF THE VOID  
  
DISCLAIMER: The following piece of work is written for non-profit but merely entertainment. All contained therein is adapted from trademarked characters, devices, situations and locations. These all belong to their respective owners, not myself.  
  
THANKS TO:  
  
BRAX THE GREAT: Thanks for the compliments. I have made some sketches of Darkflight, Whiteflight, gundamised Starscream and some other doodles, and I'd scan them online if I only had a scanner.  
  
CYBLADE SILVER: Glad someone picked up on the Jurassic Park references. As thanks for your constant reviews for my fics, I have named one of Galvatron's new weapons after you.  
  
COBALT CAT: You're welcome.  
  
SHAWN PROVONCHA: Ditto and thanks.  
  
RA88: Well done for noticing the homages. Re. Your questions and suggestions; the 'White Giant' is another vessel of the Jupiter Mining Corporation mentioned in one of the 'Red Dwarf' novels. Sorry, but all the Isla Nublar dinos were destroyed after the movie, and the Isla Sorna animals are all dead due to limited food supply on the island. But I might throw in a sequence with the Dinobots for a joke. Also, the Decepticon Matrix does not resemble the Autobot Matrix in that the gem is entirely concealed within the Adamantium casing, which on the outside looks like an American Football (or for British readers, a rugby ball). Thanks again.  
  
MICROWAVE JOCKEY: Glad you enjoyed Wheeljack. I initially threw him in just for you but it soon developed into a nice way to 'discover' the Decepticon Matrix. More on that later. Yes, Omega Supreme will appear, but not for a long time. See ya! Buttocks? That was disturbing.  
  
JOSH: Here's that new chapter you wanted.  
  
ANDREW: I WILL write up those comic relief shorts, but if you read below you will find a slight reference as thanks for the amusement they gave me.  
  
Cheers guys and enjoy!  
  
A/N: As promised, this chapter is concerned solely with the Transformers in order to make up for the prevailing use of Gundam characters in the previous chapters. Gundam fans need not fear however because the events of this chapter are merely the prelude to the next battle for the GW cast and to a greater extent the rest of this fic. Also, if you get confused with a lot of the Cybertronian terms and history below, the second Profiles chapter includes a glossary to help. Enjoy.  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
CHAPTER 3. FAUSTUS  
  
"...buthtepoitnistisclearlytobotmatrixdershipasthatsthe..."  
  
Optimus Prime stared and shook his head, sharing a glance with Megatron, who shrugged. Before them an irate Wheeljack paced Prime's quarters frantically, babbling to himself rapidly, obviously expecting the two leaders to understand him as he talked double-dutch at two-to-the-dozen.  
  
While Prime tried to get a word in edgeways to plug the outpouring flow of words, Megatron calmly chewed on an energon goodie, thankful that he had always had the Constructicons to rely on for scientific duties and not this eccentric.  
  
"...onlyotherdeadumisthbotmatrixothisis..."  
  
The two leaders flicked their optics briefly at the unassuming device that had caused this outburst in Wheeljack, sitting innocently on a table. It was a completely smooth cylinder, taping to a point at both ends. Set around each of the blunt tips were several data-sockets, waiting to receive whatever fitted in them.  
  
"...neverthouamythbuttnfrontofyou."  
  
Wheeljack finished and stared at the two Transformers as if expecting a pat on the back and a pay raise. Megatron looked down and rubbed his optics as Prime tried to hide his laughter.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
Megatron nudged Prime forward while reaching into a small container beside him. As Prime tried to explain to his best researcher that they had not understood a word of what he had been saying over the past breem Megatron happily devoured a further batch of energon snacks which he had purloined from Prime in recent weeks over the Cybertron equivalent of a game known to humans as poker.  
  
After Prime had calmed Wheeljack sufficiently the scientist started again at a more reasonable pace.  
  
"This," he rested a hand on the object, "is the core unit from Megatron's fusion cannon. It is the power source for a compact fusion generator, but I'm slagged if I know what's inside. However, I do have certain theories..."  
  
Wheeljack turned to Megatron, now curious enough to have set his hard-won energon snacks aside.  
  
"Commander Megatron, what do you know for certain about the fusion cannon's past?"  
  
Megatron leant back in his seat and stared at the ceiling as he cast his mind back.  
  
"It's a hereditary weapon, passed down from one Decepticon leader to another. I took it from Skorpinok at the gates of Iacon. He was in turn presented with it by Bludgeon when he succeeded the office. I don't really recall the Decepticon genealogy well once you go back beyond Bludgeon's age, not much happened to be worthy of historical note between the first and second Cybertronian wars. But the fusion cannon was always there, the weapon of choice for whoever was in command. To many it's a symbol of the Decepticons as much as our insignia."  
  
Wheeljack nodded sagely.  
  
"I recall the same. However, when I was a student of science prior to the war, I found an extract of the 'Covenant of Primus' in the historical archives that made reference to a 'Matrix of Power' that was used in the War of Liberation as well as the 'Matrix of Leadership', but which disappeared completely after that end of the war."  
  
"Our war against the Quintessons," Prime murmured. Wheeljack snapped his fingers.  
  
"Exactly. This Matrix of Power could date back to the time when Vector Sigma and the Transformers first gained sentience."  
  
"In myth by the power of Primus," Megatron added.  
  
"Correct. And do you recall the two who led us against the Quints?"  
  
"Alpha Trion, the first Transformer to awake, the first to wield the power of the Matrix of Leadership," Prime tapped his chest. Wheeljack continued.  
  
"And Raksha, who after the war founded the Decepticon Military to protect Cybertron against the Quints. If there was anyone who would have wielded a second Matrix, it's him.  
  
Prime rubbed his chin, thoughtful.  
  
"And just like Trion passed his Matrix along to his successor in government, making it the Autobot Matrix, Raksha could have passed his along through the military he created, making it the Decepticon Matrix."  
  
Megatron spoke quietly, his voice faltering.  
  
"There was once a myth of a Decepticon Matrix...Has the fusion cannon..."  
  
Silence fell as they all looked at the innocent device.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
The world spun giddily, and Onslaught came to as searing heat burning his face. Rubbing his groggy head he lifted himself to his knees, then finally took stock of his surroundings.  
  
"No!"  
  
Sick with fear, Onslaught sprang to full awakening. Above him towering monoliths stared down silently, the stony stare of the many statues grinding into his spark, relentless, merciless, accusing. Hot ash swirled in the air as he stumbled to the edge of the balcony, and reared back in horror. Beneath, the molten liquid bubbled and flared, reaching out to ensnare him and drag him down into its red-hot bosom.  
  
"Not here! Not again!"  
  
Legs spinning, he ran and tripped for safety as hundreds upon thousands of heads turned silently to follow him, red, amber and blue optics as cold and unforgiving as the frozen gazes of long-dead transformers.  
  
As he passed beneath the battlements of the coliseum and tried to hide from his past, the enshrouding darkness spun to blinding light, harsh sterility. As he ground to a halt, he stepped to the Plexiglas of the covered walkway, and looked down into yet another memory.  
  
Decepticons, millions in rank stretched to the distant horizon of this cavernous chamber, marching in proper order, armaments proudly polished and displayed. As Onslaught stared, a regiment of Seekers marched to a halt and about-faced, then saluted, the amplified mechanical crunch of their movements drowning out his audios.  
  
High above on an elevated balcony stood a figure that was long dead. Heavy green and purple armour covered his body, and his arms ended in sharp violet claws. On his left arm sat the obsidian bulk of the fusion cannon, the mighty weapon dwarfed only be the mech who carried it.  
  
Skorpinok!  
  
Like a ghost risen from the dead the former Decepticon leader raised his arms to the silent masses, roaring to the mighty show of force.  
  
"My Decepticons! My loyal troops! The day has come, for our ascension!"  
  
Hushed, stunned silence. Skorpinok's mouth twisted into a grin, and as he continued to speak, Onslaught began mouthing the familiar words in time with him. He'd heard this exact same speech before.  
  
"There is not one among you, not one, who does not love Cybertron, and all that she stands for! But now, in her time of need she calls on you. The Transformer race has grown weak under the hand of the Autobots. Lest we forget, our finest hour when all trembled at the name Decepticon. Today! You shall recapture that strength, that pride, that honour. Today, you fight, and shall be immortalized as Heroes of Cybertron!"  
  
All of the gathered soldiers stood in shock as Skorpinok lowered his arms, and rested his claws on the banner. Then, a single voice cried out, and more joined it, the roar of exhilaration swelling to immense proportions, until it took on a power of its own and swept the minds and hearts of those gathered along with it, that single crescendo of strength and power through arms.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Skorpinok's frame trembled at the power before him, the power he wielded, and slowly looked left and right. As far as could been seen, there were Decepticon warriors, all crying the name of Skorpinok, his name, his power. And now his war. With a single lightening strike, he would sweep aside the weak and decadent Autobot government, and Cybertron would awake to a new dawn, a new era.  
  
As exhilarated as his troops, he glanced over at his shoulder to the two figures standing behind him on the balcony.  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
The larger of the two Decepticons was silver and black, his body strong and gleaming. Two plasma rifles sat on his arms, and his alliance was declared by the proud sigil on his chest. The face that framed the two scarlet optics was young, yet hardened by long years of fighting, the ingrained lines accounting to a mind older than its years. Although overwhelmed by the show of force, the expression was pensive, worried.  
  
Little did Skorpinok know he was looking into the face of his future executor. Megatron spoke.  
  
"Incredible, an amazing answer to your call to arms. But perhaps..."  
  
He trailed off. Skorpinok gestured for him to continue. Megatron sighed.  
  
"Aren't we underestimating the Autobots and the Neutrals? They may seem weak but they did fight the Quintessons, they fought as hard to overthrow our oppressors as we did. Might they not still summon the strength to retaliate."  
  
The words seemed to strike a chord in Skorpinok, who frowned slightly, turning over the suggestion of defeat. Before he could respond however; the second machine spoke out. He was smaller than Megatron, and clearly weaker. Green, tan and black covered him, and his face was an expressionless mouthplate and visor.  
  
"A ridiculous notion Commander, no force could stand in the way of your army...Victory for the Decepticons is inevitable."  
  
Skorpinok nodded slightly, before addressing his two lieutenants.  
  
"I appreciate your advice Megatron, but I am inclined to agree with Zarak. Our victory is inevitable..."  
  
As Megatron shot the sycophantic Zarak a look of disgust, Onslaught's thoughts from across the hall were driven away by a voice...THE voice, inside his mind.  
  
"CURIOUS...VERY CURIOUS INDEED."  
  
Despair overwhelming him, Onslaught sank to the ground, hands pressed over his audios to drown out his master, and the memory began to fade to inky blackness, dotted with silver light.  
  
"CLEAR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENCE, TO CLIMB SO HIGH, AND SWAY THE THOUGHTS OF SKORPINOK...YET YOU JOINED MY FOLLOWERS, MISGUIDED FOOLS. I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT BETTER OF A TRANSFORMER OF SUCH MENTAL POWER..."  
  
As he sank into the dark, further voices were dredged up from Onslaught's memory.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
"...You swear yourself to this covenant, to forever serve the Devourer and to subvert those his enemies?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"Do you swear to turn aside from the path of the false-deity Primus, and to forever hold the bond of our master?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"And do you swear to serve this order with honour and loyalty till the end of days, when there is nothing but the Devourer and the Void?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"The pact is sealed, thrice declared by your word. Now and forever you are bonded to this covenant of energon and oath brother Zarak."  
  
"ALL POWER TO UNICRON AND HIS ARMY OF THE VOID!"  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Onslaught hovered in darkness, his body without substance, a thin illusion of his former self. He looked around, searching for anything to distract him from the horrific sight before him.  
  
He floated in space, by what means or reason he could not fathom, surrounded by the remains of his army. As well as his Decepticons, the shattered chassis of his drone forces decorated the space, forming a ring of twisted shattered metal that stretched around the monster he beheld. He then noticed one absentee. The traitor Tallgeese.  
  
He was oddly curious about how he had come to be here, according to his ghostly inertial navigators as far beyond the outliers of the Sol system.  
  
"ONSLAUGHT."  
  
With horror touching his core like the icy finger of the Grim Reaper, he turned back to the source of that massive, all encompassing voice.  
  
His master, the Dark Lord of Chaos. Unicron. The giant planet hung in space before him, the circular, fanged mouth stretching many miles either side of him. Two giant mandibles reached out towards him. As Unicron 'spoke', ghastly white light poured out of his mouth and bathed Onslaught in its sterility.  
  
"YOU HAVE FAILED."  
  
"No."  
  
"YES! YOU SWORE YOURSELF TO ME IN RETURN FOR YOU LIFE TO BE SPARED WHEN ALL ELSE IS DESTROYED AND THE STORMS OF CHAOS SWEEP THE EMPTY VOID. I ORDERED OF YOU BUT ONE THING. TO REMOVE THE THREAT OF THE TWO ENERGIES. AND AFTER MANY MEGAVORNS, WHAT HAVE YOU ACHIEVED, NOTHING!"  
  
Onslaught moved to protest, but his voice was cut off by a new sensation.  
  
PAIN!  
  
Even though he lacked a body, he was being consumed in a fire of agony like nothing he could remember. It was as if he were within a vice, gradually squeezing him, the pressure being first noticeable, then a mere nuisance, before progressing to outright torture, all the while his body feeling as if its innards were gradually melting, each non-existent nerve ending crackling and sparking with the pain of ages. Through the inferno, he could still hear...no...feel that presence, that voice in his mind that filled ever crack of his cranium. This time it was lower, subtler, like velvet dripping upon his CPU, softly probing each terminal, each facet of memory.  
  
"Do you remember? That day you gave yourself to me?"  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
_'Harsh faces staring at me, dark, accusing, not a shard of mercy, as cold as the walls of the Chamber of Ancients, where the council of elders held court.  
  
"And so Zarak, for your betrayal of Primus, his sacred covenant, and the hallowed order of the Decepticons, you are hereby sentenced to deactivation at the Smelting Pools of Iacon, effective immediately..."'  
_  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Unlike the central hall, the walls of the coliseum glowed red, their walls holding but a mere faction of the heat of the pits that filled the circular hollow walls. Inside the dripping tanks lay nightmares that went beyond pain and death, the remains of shattered dreams and lives.  
  
_"...and hereby at the third astrocycle of the 5th quintun since your capture, you are to be executed by commander Megatron..."_  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
_'The jeers and cries of hatred rose into the sky, stars hidden by the acrid fumes of the pits, as if the heavens in turn refuse to show me mercy at the moment of my death. I am prodded out onto the balcony, like a common criminal, my wrists bonded together by laser bolts. My tormentor steps before me, armour gleaming, weapon primed and ready for use. He stares into me, not a shred of sympathy or compassion in his optics. He turns, and addresses the crowds filling the balconies that run right around the circular walls that surround the pits, addressing them with all the charisma that he as an orator can muster.'  
_  
-------------------------------------------  
  
"This is the one, the traitor...the blasphemer...he declares himself a servant of the tyrant Skorpinok. Who here objects to his passing?"  
  
'A great roar of loathing rises up, condemning me to 'purification by fire'.  
  
"DOES HE DESERVE TO DIE?"  
  
"YES!"  
  
"THEN DIE HE MUST!"  
  
_'And with that, my executor aims his cannon down at the tank of solid metal beneath my platform and fires. Soon the alloys begin to melt under the barrage, loosening, rippling, burning. In moments where there was a block of solid metal, is now a deep pit filled with boiling, undulating slag, fingers of flame and burning gas floating up as if to grasp me and pull me into their embrace.'_  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
"I PLEAD FOR MERCY!"  
  
_'As I gaze up in hope of a saviour, they turn their backs to me, offering me as much comfort as the gothic, foreboding architecture.'_  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
_'I see hope. A lone figure on the peak of the coliseum, face eerily lit by the flames below.  
  
Alpha Trion, the saviour of all Transformers, who led us in our war of liberation.  
  
I stare at him, and he stares right back.  
  
Slowly, he shakes his head.  
  
As my platform trembles and begins to lower me towards the smelting, molten fluid, a new emotion overrides the fear, burying it deep within, coming to a climax before releasing it in a surge.  
  
RAGE!  
  
Megatron smirks at me.  
  
"You have the right to a final prayer in order to prepare your spark for judgement."  
  
"CURSE YOU ALL! AND CURSE PRIMUS AS WELL!"  
  
I turn to the heavens and scream, a final plea to the only other being of power enough to save me.  
  
"IF PRIMUS HAS TURNED ME ASIDE, THEN I DO THE SAME. SPARE ME, AND I PRESENT MY SPARK TO THEE...UNICRON!"  
  
As hush descends on all, including Megatron. They do not understand what I have just said, except that I have turned aside my one chance of redemption. After tense moments, my platform suddenly tilts beneath me and I fall. The distance is only twice my height, yet it seems to take an eternity.'  
  
_-------------------------------------------  
  
_'Before I strike I gaze up at the rapidly receding figures, and the smog above blows aside for a brief moment, revealing the sky.  
  
Yet no stars shine in the heavens. Except for a single red pinprick, directly above, shining down on me, before I am consumed by fire.'_  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
"YES." That same dripping velvet voice, "I BREATHED FRESH LIFE, NEW POWER INTO YOU, WITH BUT ONE COMMAND. DESTROY THE TWO THAT COULD RIVAL ME. AND YOU FAILED! AFTER TEN MEGAVORNS, HAVE YOU ACCOMPLISHED THAT GOAL, THAT SINGLE STEP. NO!"  
  
"Master, I...ARRRGHHIIEEEE!"  
  
Onslaught's pleading voice descended into screams of agony, as his spectral armour splintered and crunched, jewel-like innards drifting out of the holes the invisible force wrought on him.  
  
"I...I'm sorry master...I'm sorry, have mercy on me, I BEG OF YOU!"  
  
"SILENCE!!"  
  
Stars would have extinguished themselves at a command from that voice, no longer soft and tempting, but dark, hollow and as dead as the vast nothingness. Onslaught gasped as the pain eased, tightly scrunched optics opening cautiously.  
  
"YOUR PLEAS MEAN NOTHING TO ME SLAVE. YES, SLAVE, YOU BELONG TO ME AND I VALUE YOU AS NOTHING!"  
  
Unicron's presence continued to dabble in Onslaught's mind, until he found what he was searching for. And it amused him.  
  
"AH! POWER," the demigod chortled, "THAT WAS YOUR GOAL. ZARAK THE COWARD, SIDING FIRST WITH SKORPINOK, MOST POWERFUL OF HIS TIME, AND THEN WITH UNICRON, MOST POWERFUL IN EXISTENCE...ALL TO ADVANCE HIS OWN POSITION. SELF- ADVANCEMENT AND BACKSTABBING, ADMIRABLE QUALITIES IN THE DECEPTICON ARMY...BUT NOT TO ME."  
  
As he continued to chuckle, Unicron squeezed again with his mental fist  
  
"WERE NOT THE HOUR SO LATE I WOULD RENDER YOU LIMB FROM LIMB, STRIP YOU INTO SUBATOMIC DUST. LOOK!"  
  
Images burned themselves into Onslaught's mind, a great armada, a fleet of space firepower surging through the blackness, heading towards...Sol, and Earth. At the forefront of the fleet, gleaming like the tip of a sabre were two vessels that surpassed the others in all regards. Two symbols adorned them, and as he recognised them, his mind quaked in first horror, then rage.  
  
"PRIME WAS RIGHT! YOU DESTROYED IT! YOU DESTROYED CYBERTRON, WHICH YOU PROMISED TO ME, UGH!"  
  
Onslaught quaked again as the spectral fist clenched him, pain burning his sensory conduits.  
  
"PROMISE! I SHALL DO AS I PLEASE! AND WHO ARE YOU TO STOP ME, WORM!"  
  
Onslaught was spun to gaze into the pitiless maw, dark energies sparking from jaw to jaw. He could see no eye, yet he felt the soul, the very essence of Unicron boring into his spark.  
  
"AT A TIME, I CONSIDERED SPARING YOUR WRETCHED LITTLE PLANET CYBERTRON. AND IT WAS YOUR NEGLIGENCE THAT BROUGHT ABOUT ITS DISMEMBERMENT! AND NOW, IT'S TIME TO PAY THE PIPER FOR YOUR LACKING DILIGENCE..."  
  
Trembling, Onslaught tried to avert his gaze, but his attention was drawn to a tingling in his forearm, which suddenly erupted into agony. He held his hand up, and screamed in pain as the fingers melted, molten metal dribbling down over his gauntlet. Underneath, his skeletal supports twitched, sickening streams of metal and fluid hanging between them.  
  
The corrosive effect spread to his arms, exposing cylinders and fuel lines, which sprayed their contents like blood, forming small constellations in the airless void. As his upper-chest was dissolved, the left arm, without the support of the armour, destroyed itself as cylinders compacted, buckling the understructure out of shape, splitting and fracturing the struts.  
  
Finally, his fuel tank burst, and flaming energon coated his arms as electrical energy crackled between his limbs, simultaneously burning and electrocuting him. Onslaught screamed, and screamed.  
  
And screamed.  
  
Over his agony, the dark lord of chaos spoke.  
  
"THE SPARK OF CREATION, WILL FLICKER AGAIN. MY ERA OF CHANGE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"  
  
As the last shards of his former existence were burned away, Onslaught's corporeal spark rose from the ashes. He felt strangely numb, all feelings nulled, not even fear or the least semblance of pain.  
  
"IN MY QUEST OF DESTRUCTION, I HAVE ALWAYS WORKED ALONE. INNUMERABLE WORLDS HAVE QUAKED UNDER MY WRATH, BUT NOW I WILL CHOOSE MY ACOLYTES, MY HERALDS OF APOCALYPSE."  
  
Onslaught stared, the faintest shard of curiosity rising within him as his three remaining commanders burned as he had, but unlike him, faint ghosts of their forms remained, almost an x-ray, each wire, pipe and rod highlighted in unearthly green. Unicron rumbled in approval, and Onslaught could feel that he was probing the minds of each mobile suit, not only their programming, but also the human memories that Onslaught had suppressed.  
  
"EXCELLENT. MY HERALDS SHALL BEAR A BADGE OF DISTINCTION, A MARK TO SET THEM ABOVE YOUR INFERIOR KIND. AND THE STYLE OF THESE WEAPONS, THESE, GUNDAMS APPEALS TO ME..."  
  
Vayeate, the four Combatacons and Astrotrain were drawn forward, and in a weird ballet of new life, their innards shifted and their bodies rearranged, as Unicron toyed with his fresh canvas, till he had found a form that pleased him. When he spoke again, it was with a touch of pride.  
  
"EXCELLENT."  
  
As he spoke, scraps of metal and the remains of Onslaught's drones flew onto the images of the new warriors, building them up from the core.  
  
"I RAVAGE ALL IN MY PATH, AS DOES WAR, SO YOU SHALL BE WAR, AND YOUR NAME, SHALL BE BATTLEMASTER."  
  
With a flash of jade green optics, the machine named Battlemaster came to life, and Onslaught gazed upon the first of his new minions.  
  
Battlemaster was a blood red, tinted in gold and black and in appearance slightly resembled the Gundam known as Heavyarms. From the distinctive V- fin on the forehead to the two massive dual cannons mounted on his back, the influence of Unicron's design could be seen. As life flowed into the new beast, he threw his head back, opened his mouth and brayed to the eternal night. The cry was cold and deep, filled with the screams and agonies of battle. He was indeed, War.  
  
"AND HIS ELITES."  
  
The remains of the four combatacons and Astrotrain moved, and Battlemaster gazed on his troops with approval. Though smaller and weaker than him, they still radiated a vast power. One resembled a seeker, though slimmer and sharper. Battlemaster spoke.  
  
"Raptor."  
  
The second was distinguished by a pair of razor sharp blades on his arms, and a vast cannon barrel that rose from his back.  
  
"Skyblade."  
  
The next warrior was an imposing machine that appeared to be able to take a nuclear explosion in the face and keep going. His face was an impassive visor, and he carried a futuristic weapon, which gleamed a shining gold.  
  
"Ajax."  
  
The next resembled Battlemaster in weaponry and appearance, but with a lighter build.  
  
"Juggernaught."  
  
The final Elite looked...odd. In movements he was swift and fluid, he seemed to carry no weapons save two giant devices on his back and white light gleamed in his hands. Battlemaster nodded.  
  
"Spectrum."  
  
With that the six warriors turned and kneeled before their master, who turned his attention to the ruins of Epyon.  
  
"I SEEK ALL OUT, HUNTING THEM AND SLAYING THEM, AS DOES DISEASE, SO YOU SHALL BE PESTILENCE, HUNTER, TRACKER, AND YOU SHALL BE SCOURGE."  
  
Scourge's body closely resembled Epyon's, sleek and deadly, though less bulky. The massive shield had been removed but the deadly heat rod remained, tucked into the right arm, along with a second unit on the left arm. On the right hip the lethal beam sword hung. From his back rose a pair of dark wings. He was jet black, his eyes and the gem on his chest a deep crimson. The only other colour was silver details to his wings, fingertips and his V-fin.  
  
Onslaught paused and stared into the face. It was sharp edged; it's distinctive feature a silver beard and long moustache that framed a hard, cruel mouth. It was a cultured, wise face, forever set in a gaze of deep contemplation. The eyes came to life, and the mouth opened to reveal a pair of sharp fangs set among his otherwise perfect teeth.  
  
Scourge examined his new body, and then swept round with lightning speed. He roared a cold, chill cry, and at his own bidding, not Unicron's, his followers were called into being.  
  
"AND HIS CORPSMEN, THE WRAITHS!"  
  
The three former coneheads were identical to Scourge except in their colour scheme, deep blue and red, and less ornate heads. Silent and brooding, they awaited their orders.  
  
Scourge's wings swept down around his body like a cloak, and he drifted along his ranks, not bothering to name them until he reached the front. Behind him, his men lowered their wings, and they waited, like a quartet of bizarre monks, bowing their heads in submission.  
  
"MERCURIUS IS A SHIELD, A PROTECTOR, BUT THE SHIELD CARRIES A SWORD, AND SO, LIKE FAMINE STRIKING FROM ABOVE, TURNING LUSH PLAIN TO BARREN DESERT, SHALL YOU - CYCLONUS THE LIEUTENANT AND HIS IMPERIAL ARMADA."  
  
Cyclonus was shaded in the pallors of death and disease, greys, purples and blues. From his back projected two wings, and he carried himself with the pride and dignity of a born warrior. Onslaught knew that this was a servant who would deliver nothing but perfection and utter loyalty to the bitter end.  
  
In form, Cyclonus resembled a strange hybrid of Wing Zero and a Seeker. His back was a cockpit, and his legs were engines. The chest below his face was broad and strong, and his head was elegantly sculpted, rising up into two towers, like a bishop's mitre. His features were fine, handsome, but his expression serious and grave. His only hand-held weapons were what appeared to be a pair of giant rail-guns fitted like gloves over the forearms. Within his shoulders were racked missiles and projecting from the backs of his hands were two staff-like projections, their ends wickedly honed barbs.  
  
His three minions, the former Stunticons, were similar in appearance to him, but of a sleeker and lighter design, the other noticeable difference being the front-mounted Seeker cockpit. Onslaught slowly took them in and realised Unicron had made Cyclonus leader of a trio of femmebots. Like their leader, they carried powerful firearms, but this time each wielded two arm-mounted beam rifles. On their hips were two beam sabres, and they lacked the harpoon-like devices of Cyclonus.  
  
Cyclonus and the armada bowed before Unicron, who addressed him.  
  
"YOUR FOLLOWERS PLEASE YOU?"  
  
"They do, my lord."  
  
"THEN NAME THEM WELL."  
  
"Famine is an invisible menace lord that withers and burns, like a poisonous radiation. So do they, and thus I name them Alpha, Beta and Gamma."  
  
Unicron boomed in laughter.  
  
"EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT. AND NOW..." He turned to Onslaught, "MY ONCE AND FORMER SERVANT? YOU PLEAD FOR MERCY, AND I SHALL GRANT IT. BUT DO NOT THINK THAT THIS PLACES YOU IN MY FAVOUR. I TRUST YOU, AND I TRUST YOU NOT. PREPARE TO FALL ONSLAUGHT, AND LET A NEW LIFE TAKE YOUR PLACE."  
  
Through the haze of numbness fear struck deep into Onslaught's soul, before he was cut down in his tracks in a new pain, destruction was an energon bath in comparison with this, the blazing agony, the building energy, like a sun burns it's brightest before it's destruction.  
  
"I AM ALL THESE THINGS. WAR, PESTILENCE, FAMINE. BUT THESE ARE BUT PATHS TO MY ULTIMATE SELF, MY ULTIMATE DESTINY. I BRING FINALITY, DESTRUCTION, PAIN, GRIEF AND SORROW.  
  
I AM DEATH, AND NOW, SO ARE, YOU!"  
  
Through the agony, the eternal, unforgiving turmoil, Onslaught, no, Onslaught was dead, could sense the changes being wrought in his body as it built to a crescendo...  
  
...and vanished.  
  
He felt a new fire in him, new life, but a coldness, that permeated his every fibre of being. Truly, he was now death incarnate. Born in fire, he rose, a phoenix from the ashes that were what remained of Onslaught.  
  
"BEHOLD - GALVATRON!"  
  
Unicron's newest servant studied the form his master had bestowed upon him. Yes...this would do nicely.  
  
His body was regal in tone and form, perfect for a monarch in the making. He was dark and powerful, royal purple in colour, and upon his head was a crown, inlaid with gems of ruby.  
  
Galvatron flexed an arm, and marvelled at the fluidity with which he moved, mechanical muscles bulging beneath his metal skin with a strange organic grace  
  
And his weapon - never in his life had he seen such a fusion of deadly elegance and raw power. A vivid neon in colour, sleek and wicked. He could feel it. Feel the lethal power that brewed within it, within himself, the same power that tied him to Unicron himself.  
  
As Galvatron lowered the cannon, his hand fell to his hip and landed upon a metal hilt. Grasping it, he drew forth a mighty blade of Gundanium, its edge burning like St. Elmo's fire. Entranced, Galvatron swung it and it cut a swift path across the void of space, screaming with a keening tone. In its wake flames danced with an almost mystical air. Galvatron spun it, testing its weight, and was pleased with what his master had crafted.  
  
"THE CYBLADE...THE MOST POWERFUL SWORD IN EXISTENCE."  
  
As Galvatron sleathed his sword, weird lights dancing along the Cyblade's silver finish, he allowed himself a slight smirk.  
  
'Megatron will never know what hit him...'  
  
Before he could complete the thought a wave of pain struck him down again, causing him to writhe in agony through the emptiness of space.  
  
"MEGATRON...MEGATRON! YOU THINK I SHALL LET YOU GO FREE, TO DO AS YOU PLEASE ON THE ACCURSED MUDBALL EARTH!"  
  
Galvatron realised with horror that Unicron had read his thoughts, and he had not felt the dark presence in his mind.  
  
'He's linked me to him...We're connected.'  
  
"CORRECT! I SEE THAT YOU HAVE LOST NONE OF ONSLAUGHT'S INTELLIGENCE. NOW...MY HERALD...HERE ARE YOUR ORDERS...SEEK OUT AND GATHER THE TWO TRANSFORMER MATRIXES. BRING THE DECEPTICON ENERGY TO ME, BUT DESTROY THE MATRIX OF LEADERSHIP!"  
  
Galvatron had heard this one before. As Unicron continued to rant, he drew within himself to block out the pain, and tried to force his mind back into Unicron's through their mental link, and he felt something...It was but a single drop of knowledge in the ocean of Unicron's mind, but it was a crucial bit of data.  
  
Before Unicron could notice his presence, Galvatron snapped back into consciousness, as the last agonising surges of pain broke over him...Had Unicron still been torturing him while he explored his mind? Odd that he hadn't noticed...  
  
Galvatron crushed those thoughts beneath him, lest Unicron notice them and have something to say. Meanwhile the demi-god ended his tirade and paused for effect. Immortal and infinite in wisdom or not, Unicron was one for style, the dramatics in life.  
  
"NOW, GO!"  
  
Galvatron turned, and faced the forces at his disposal. Cyclonus, Scourge and Battlemaster all dipped their heads, as did their troops. All in all, Galvatron commanded fourteen highly powerful warriors. Fourteen, set against the hundreds the allied Transformers had at their disposal. He pondered the odds for a second, and then chuckled hollowly. He pitied those traitors, unaware of the swift power that was soon to descend on them.  
  
"My Tyrranicons! To Earth!"  
  
Galvatron focused for a second and fired the Vernier thrusters built into his new form, amazed with the new abilities presented by this body. As he took off for the distant light of Sol, the Imperial Armada of Cyclonus and the femmes took up defensive positions around him, testing their new aircraft alt-modes to the limit. Further back flew the Elites, and finally the silent corpsmen of the Wraiths.  
  
As the gargantuan sphere of Unicron began to dwindle in the distance, Galvatron allowed himself a single thought.  
  
'Unicron not only knows of the Decepticon matrix, he knows it.'  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
"We've been thinking about this wrong. We can't find out what Raksha did with the Decepticon Matrix, but we could try to reverse-engineer history and find out where he got it from."  
  
"Okay, shoot."  
  
It was several hours later. Prime, Megatron and Wheeljack were still working despite the fact that the sun had set long before. Rather than just have Megatron try to open the fusion-cannon's core, not knowing what might be inside, the three Transformers had decided to try and work out for certain if the cannon really was...well, holy.  
  
Numerous empty energon cubes lay around the floor. Prime was currently engrossed in a data-track disk, while Megatron and Wheeljack swapped ideas. Other data tracks littered Prime's quarters, along with a copy of 'The Covenant of Primus', the Transformer bible.  
  
Wheeljack went first.  
  
"Raksha was a hero of the war and one of the first Transformers. He didn't follow his fellow heroes into government however but founded the Decepticons. But after he stepped down from power he became a recluse, and many deca-vorns later was executed. Why?"  
  
Megatron tossed aside his empty energon cube.  
  
"I don't really known my history but I can answer that one. Raksha was a heretic. After he left the Decepticons he founded that cult..."  
  
"The Army of the Void...Yes, I know, but doesn't that strike you as strange in itself?"  
  
Megatron pondered. All Transformer religions believed in a god called Primus. The actual way of worshipping him could vary wildly but the core deity was always the same. The fact that Raksha should have ever believed in another God didn't make sense.  
  
Wheeljack poured together the dregs of several cubes and swallowed the sickly substance, retching slightly.  
  
"We know that that access to the complete historical archives of Cybertron was often suppressed by the council of elders. It was even rumoured that they deleted some sections...Is it possible that a large number of Transformers once believed in another God besides Primus, and were either executed or driven into hiding because of religious persecution from the council, who then tried to pretend this faith never existed by deleting all record of it..."  
  
Megatron held a hand up.  
  
"...Are you suggesting that the Decepticon Matrix was a religious artefact to Raksha's religion?"  
  
"Why not? Vector Sigma bequeathed the Autobot Matrix of Leadership to Alpha Trion. It is sacred to many."  
  
Megatron scratched his nose.  
  
"What about the Quintessons? Didn't they have their own beliefs? Could Raksha's Matrix have been a religious icon for them? Could he have even been carrying on their faith?"  
  
"Don't know, but that might explain why the council tried to quash the Army of the Void, and even put many to death for being members of it over the whole course of our history. Don't want people worshipping the gods of your enemies."  
  
Prime finally looked up from the data-track.  
  
"Nothing about the Army of the Void, save a list of those executed for practising it. Looks like you were right Wheeljack. Anything relating to what they believed in was deleted from all archives.  
  
Megatron tapped his chin.  
  
"There are two possibilities. Perhaps the 'Covenant of Primus' has a record of other Transformer or Quintessian religions? The other is that there might still be a Transformer still alive who has memory of Raksha, and might have known what he believed in?"  
  
Prime shook his head.  
  
"Only one Cybertronian could have helped you there. All modern copies of the Covenant of Primus are abridged. They don't contain the opening books of History or the closing books of Prophecy. We have one of the full copies on board but it's written in the Lex."  
  
"Ancient Cybertronian."  
  
"Yes. All of the first Cybertronians spoke it, but now it's a dead tongue. Of all of those Transformers only Alpha Trion lived through to our age, making him the only one who spoke the Lex and who was old enough to know Raksha, and he's dead, along with Cybertron. And he was the one who translated what we have of the Covenant from the Lex."  
  
Megatron sighed.  
  
"Another dead end."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Two Decepticons staggered away from the Vengeance's re-charge facility, their inability to walk in a straight-line testimony to their condition.  
  
"So...so I tell him...(hic)...that's no Autobot...(hic)...that's Rumble...Are you even listening to me Runamuck?"  
  
"Runabout...You're over-energised, I'm over-energised...(hic)...All I want to do is get back to my quarters without decorating the bulkheads with regurgitated energon."  
  
"Hey boys."  
  
The two drunken twins whipped round - or as close as they could come without falling over, and liked what they saw.  
  
A slender purple femmebot was standing in the shadows, beckoning to them. Smiling broadly, Runamuck staggered to her, after punching his brother out on the floor.  
  
"Hey sweet thing."  
  
"Come with me, and I'll show you things I've never shown anyone before."  
  
Dumbly, Runamuck stepped into the shadows.  
  
"I think I've gone to the Matrix."  
  
"Not yet."  
  
BA-DAMPF!  
  
There was a small explosion, and a smouldering object rolled out of the opened his optics to be confronted by his brother's severed head!  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Back in Prime's quarters, no progress had been made. Wheeljack bashed his head on the table.  
  
"Why, does, this, have, to, be, so, difficult! Raksha got his flaming Matrix from somewhere at the same time as Trion received his Matrix and the Covenant from Vector Sigma, but from where...I thought if I could just work out where the pit it came from I'd know what was inside without having to open it!"  
  
Prime gave up and rubbed his head.  
  
"Perhaps we're all wrong. Maybe the Decepticon Matrix never existed, and it was just a myth..."  
  
A new voice suddenly broke into the conversation; old and wise, but weary, as if the weight of ages was bearing down on its owner.  
  
"Myth...No...That is the Decepticon Matrix of Power..."  
  
The three turned to the open bulkhead door. Almost blinded by the light streaming through it they could barely make out the spindly figure before them. Slowly, their optics adjusted and they recognised the alien robot that had fallen from the skies a week ago. Huge, luminous eyes fixed on the Decepticon Matrix he advanced slowly towards them.  
  
"...And the greatest weapon the Transformers possess."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
The Salvation had been surprised to near orbit of Sol-3 to discover numerous large constructs arrayed around the planet in positions of gravitational stability. Further careful probing had revealed extensive development on both the planet and to a lesser extent it's sole moon, apparently the work of a relatively intelligent species. What was instantly clear was that these orbiting facilities were not the work of Transformers, showing none of the signs of Cybertronian construction or culture.  
  
Eventually, after calculating the area of highest alien activity to be in the tract of space between the planet and its moon, the Autobot vessel had finally anchored on the opposite side in high planetary orbit. In human terms, the ship was parked directly on the straight line linking Earth with the L1 colony cluster, further out towards the sun. Thankfully Transformer technology allowed the ship to remain completely cloaked or every spacecraft in the Earthsphere would have quickly gathered around the vessel.  
  
On the bridge Ultra Magnus and Shockwave studied the blue ball of the globe. Shockwave was studying a read-out of basic data collected on the planet and relaying it to Magnus. As the highest-ranking Decepticon, Shockwave had been invited on board the Salvation for this initial foray, while the Vengeance remained in orbit of Sol-4. Sunstorm had also come as Shockwave's brightest officer.  
  
"75% percent of the planet is covered in water, and the land-mass seems to be mainly verdant, with varying climates. All artificial structures appear to have been constructed by the planet's dominant species, presumably organics in nature. Most of the globe and surrounding space seems to be mildly irradiated with charged particles similar to the after-effects of energy weapons."  
  
"Battle?"  
  
"I would hazard a war of some kind. However radiation decay indicates very few large releases of such energy for the past half-vorn."  
  
"What about Transformer weapon discharge?"  
  
"Some recently but none currently, or the atmosphere is clouding the ship's sensors. The energy signatures however are coming through clearly, they are gathered together in a tiny portion of the north-western quadrant of one of the smaller continents."  
  
Magnus sighed slightly, a faint grin on his face.  
  
"They've stopped fighting. Well that makes our job a lot easie....UGH!"  
  
The ship was suddenly jolted hard, violently enough to pitch everyone on the bridge off their feet. Outside the blue globe spun dizzyingly. Magnus pulled himself to his command console.  
  
"SPRINGER! DAMAGE REPORT!"  
  
One lime green Autobot nodded and ran off to check on various substations on the ship. As the Salvation whiplashed again Magnus gritted his teeth.  
  
"STABILIZE THE SHIP!"  
  
Officers crawled to their controls and managed to bring the out-of-control vessel back into line. Shockwave, meticulous as ever called his findings from a console he had commandeered.  
  
"Energy blasts have struck us amidships. Possible crippling damage to the engine-room. Weapon energy signatures match those of the Vengeance!"  
  
As Shockwave finished his analysis the bridge's crew began to mutter amongst themselves. Arcee, the pink femme' worked the holotable and got a reading.  
  
"Shockwave's right! The Vengeance is anchored twelve klicks astern and starboard. Energy fluctuations indicate she just decelerated from hyperspace."  
  
Magnus snarled at Shockwave.  
  
"What the slag is your crew up to?"  
  
Shockwave bridled.  
  
"My crew is 100% loyal to our cause. They would not fire on us!"  
  
One console started beeping loudly. The officer in charge called it out.  
  
"The aft starboard airlock was just opened from the outside! We're being boarded!"  
  
Magnus and Shockwave shared a glance as a distant explosion echoed along the ship and the Autobot commander jumped into action.  
  
"Seal the blast-doors. Open communications with all compartments. Issue orders to repel the boarders."  
  
Autobots scrambled to carry out their orders as giant blast-doors sealed the bridge off. As distress alarms erupted from all corners of the ship over the next few breems, Magnus and Shockwave tried to rally scattered soldiers and force a counterattack. The more time that passed however, the less the pitiful screams and sounds of cannon fire faded away on the comm- lines. One technician turned from his console.  
  
"Engine Room communications just ceased, and fire-control is under attack. The only place left untouched is here."  
  
Magnus turned.  
  
"Break radio silence. Send an open distress call on all sub-harmonic frequencies. If Optimus Prime is down there I want him to know we're in trouble!"  
  
"But sir! You're inviting Megatron up as well!"  
  
"Damn it we have to take that chance!"  
  
Nodding the technician worked the controls and sent the message. Seconds later the main power failed, and the bridge was plunged into the semi- darkness of the emergency lighting. And then the blast doors began to groan as a heavy object outside began to pummel them.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
The blast doors were pounded several times, their armoured plating buckling under the stress. Then the unknown assailants ceased, and a hushed silence fell.  
  
Lit by the faint light of the distant Earth, Shockwave raised his radiation cannon, while Sunstorm took up a Metalikato fighting stance, a martial art known to few Transformers. Sunstorm of course, could always throw his own twist on an accepted fighting style. No other warrior fought with balls of solar energy in their fists. Magnus locked and loaded a fresh energon clip into his rifle.  
  
Outside, a faint repetitive sound was heard, growing in volume each time.  
  
THUD! THUD! THUD!  
  
Footsteps, a slow, solemn rhythm, coming nearer. Autobots and Decepticons tensed themselves, preparing for action.  
  
The sound of a sole figure marching grew to the point where vibrations could be felt in the floor, and then stopped directly beyond the blast door. There was a faint 'hiss'...  
  
...and then the blast door was cleaved diagonally in two!  
  
The shining blade that had done the damage withdrew, then cut again at ninety degrees to its previous stroke. With a heavy-hearted groan, the four- quartered panel of durasteel buckled and collapsed in on itself. Smog poured through the breach.  
  
As the Decepticons stared a figure slowly advanced from the darkness, faint creating gleaming highlights on his armour.  
  
"Come out Transformers, come out and die..."  
  
Ultra Magnus levelled his cannon at the purple giant.  
  
"State your name and function."  
  
All laughter ceased.  
  
"My name...is GALVATRON...Learn it well. And my function..."  
  
'Galvatron' rapped his fist against the symbol on his chest, visually identical to the Decepticon sigil but coloured in silver, outlined in violet.  
  
"...Is leader of the Tyrranicon military, and Harbinger..."  
  
He paused for a second, choosing his words. Sunstorm briefly flicked an eye at Shockwave, trying to convey that this was the Transformer he had sensed from Mars's orbit. Galvatron ran his tongue over his molars and continued.  
  
"...Harbinger of the blood red twilight that descends on this world, and all worlds. The black night of chaos and uncreation comes...And UNICRON IS ITS NAME..."  
  
As Galvatron cackled he was suddenly thrown back through the door and into the corridor bulkhead by a searing energy blast. Shockwave lowered his hissing weapon.  
  
"I've heard enough of this drivel..."  
  
Magnus chuckled darkly as Galvatron's prone chassis failed to stir.  
  
"Agreed."  
  
Celebrations were cut short as Galavtron suddenly leapt to his feet, not even scratched by the double weapon impact. Three shadowed figures emerged either side of him, and he cracked his knuckles, ready for a fight. The other Transformers tensed. Galvatron smirked, then threw his arm open.  
  
"ATTACK!"  
  
The four Tyrranicons leapt through the shattered hatch. Magnus raised his gun.  
  
"Transformers...Repel boarders with extreme prejudice."  
  
The opening salvo was short and decided. As the Tyrranicon commanders let loose with exotic weaponry the Transformers could not comprehend they were forced to leap behind control stands and seats for cover. Cover that was quickly torn to shreds by further beam fire.  
  
Magnus and Shockwave were crouched together behind the main console, thicker protection than the others. Magnus leant out and fired off a laser blast at what looked like an arsenal with legs, the weapon fire simply deflecting off his chest armour.  
  
"We can't faze em'!"  
  
Shockwave looked left, and hoped his next gamble would pay off.  
  
"Sunstorm! Choose a target and ATTACK! Magnus and I will concentrate our fire on their artillery support. All others engage at close-combat."  
  
Sunstorm nodded and flipped himself over the console with easy grace. His target was quickly obvious. Galavtron was holding back, allowing the other three to do his fighting for him. As Magnus and Shockwave blasted into view and began firing on the red and black gun-on-legs, several weakened Transformers began striking back against a purple-warrior who was firing back with a pair of advanced railguns. That only left...  
  
Scourge was not enjoying himself. While Battlemaster and Cyclonus continued to blast away with their guns, he was left to try and get whatever he could. And in the confined quarters he could not use his superior speed to outmatch the enemy.  
  
Suddenly, a gold-hued Decepticon jumped into view before him and tried to blast him with his arm-lasers. Scourge knocked the energy beam aside with a flick of his hand and smiled. Perhaps this would yield some amusement.  
  
Galvatron watched and yawned with slight boredom as his Tyrannicons made scrap of the Transformers. However, he did not want the situation to go too far...  
  
"Remember. I want no fatalities on either side. These weaklings can be of use to us."  
  
With little else to do, he pulled forward a half-charred chair and watched Scourge and an oddly coloured Seeker trade blows back and forth. Scourge was making swift cuts and swings, trying to rake his opponent apart with his clawed fingers, but the golden Con' simple dodged every swing and blocked every thrust, before going in with a series of swift attacks of his own, ending with a devastating blow to the Wraith commander's face.  
  
Scourge reeled back and felt fluid dribbling down his face. He wiped it up with his fingers and licked them with a reptilian tongue, savouring the look of disgust on Sunstorm's face.  
  
"Metalikato. I'm impressed Sunstorm."  
  
Sunstorm's stony expression faltered, "How do you know my name."  
  
"Oh, you'd be surprised what I can do," Scourge drew one of his beam swords and levelled it towards Sunstorm like a pikestaff, "very surprised."  
  
With that, he thrust the energy blade directly at Sunstorm.  
  
Barely having enough time to dodge the shot Sunstorm leapt, and rolled to his feet.  
  
'What kind of armaments are these? First beam attacks more powerful than our own, now energy weapons?'  
  
Forced to counter-attack the relentless Scourge, Sunstorm extended his hands and focused. Solar energy condensed in his palms for a second then shot out, forming into similar blades to Scourge's. Not willing to give up the fight, Sunstorm continued to duel with Scourge, red blade meeting amber.  
  
Shockwave was being driven back by Battlemaster, firing off shots while dragging Ultra Magnus with his hand, the Autobot commander's chest a sickening mass of exposed wiring and split energon. Around him Transformers were being felled by the second, the occasional foolhardy one trying to get the jump on their assailants and getting pummelled into the ceiling for it. Eventually, he was the only one left, aside from Sunstorm who was still warring with the indomitable Scourge. As if by a silent agreement, both Shockwave and Battlemaster ceased to watch the conclusion to this micro- epic.  
  
Sunstorm was young, and strong, but Scourge was powered by something other than Minovsky fusion. The EPYON system that formed his mind's core was racing ahead, speeding up his reflexes and allowing him to counter Sunstorm's moves microseconds before he made them. Eventually, the gold Seeker's counter-attacks became weaker, slower, and Scourge began to tire of a one-sided fight.  
  
Deciding to end it quickly. Scourge threw his arms high and shot off his twin heat-rods, wrapping them around an exposed pipe, before quickly retracting them and yanking himself off his feet. As he sprang forward he raised his heels and kicked Sunstorm viciously enough to shatter the younger warrior's cockpit glass, exposing the mechanisms beneath.  
  
Bowled backwards, Sunstorm collided first with Shockwave, breaking the commander's grip on Ultra Magnus, and then propelled them both into the massive curved viewports of the bridge. Sunstorm folded forwards off the wall and lay still. Shockwave slid down the wall, but managed to hold his footing, standing resolute before the Tyrranicons despite his low fuel reserves.  
  
Clapping resounded through the bridge of the ghost-ship and Galvatron stepped into view.  
  
"An admirable stand Shockwave, but foolhardy, and hopeless. Why not surrender now and end your pain?"  
  
Held behind Shockwave's back, no one save him noticed the gradually charging cannon that formed his left arm as he responded, his bass tones reeking of hatred and contempt.  
  
"Surrender...to you...Unicron's cowardly puppet - NEVER!"  
  
Before Galavtron could respond, Shockwave leapt forward, grabbed Sunstorm round the torso, then fired off all the energy he had mustered...right into the view port behind him.  
  
The material shattered, and the entire ship depressurised in seconds. Reaching to grab Ultra Magnus as well as Sunstorm, Shockwave was arrested by the air streaming through the bridge and yanked backwards through the rift he had created, dragging the unconscious Seeker with him. Unfazed by the howling vortex around them, the Tyrranicons stood fast and watched the faint blob that was the two Decepticons hurtle away, and gradually be consumed by the blinding light of the Earth. As the pressure gradually stabilized Galvatron shot a look around him.  
  
"Cyclonus, Battlemaster, return to the Vengeance. Scourge, begin the download."  
  
Battlemaster inclined his head slightly.  
  
"You don't want us to transport them?"  
  
Galvatron chuckled darkly.  
  
"No, no, no. The Earth-bound Transformers and those meddling humans will most likely send a party up here in hours. I'd like them to have a nice...surprise when they board."  
  
Battlemaster smiled sadistically as he and Cyclonus turned to leave, the lieutenant saluting smartly. Scourge meanwhile, had knelt beside the prostate form of Ultra Magnus, slowly running a taloned finger up and down the Autobot's chest armour. Eventually he hit something and a small plate popped up, exposing a diagnostics screen underneath. Satisfied, Scourge reached out and clenched Magnus' throat in a stranglehold, digging his claws right through the metal and into the nervous conduits within.  
  
"Commencing infection."  
  
The EPYON casing in Scourge's chest came to life, gleaming blood red. As the light reached a blinding level, the blinding light spread across his chest in hair-thin streaks, being conducted through wiring to his shoulders and down his arms, tracing a thin pattern to his hand. When it reached his fingers they began to spark heavily, spitting electrical current into Magnus' neck.  
  
As soon as that current touched Magnus' inner circuitry his optics flashed open, and he began to scream loudly, his arms and legs writhing as Scourge's infection bit deeper. He thrashed so hard that he worsened the damage in his own neck, tearing a giant hole around Scourge's hand, snapping struts, spilling fluid, almost severing his head completely from his shoulders.  
  
As Magnus' screams reached their peak he began to spew up waste energon, his cries gargling as the blue-tinted fluid bubbled from his mouth and throat, his wild gyrations flinging it all across the bridge. Scourge began to pant, his breathing deepening, but not with exhaustion. His optics began to burn with demonic lust, and unable to resist, he withdrew his hand and plunged his fanged mouth into Magnus' throat, causing the Autobot commander to scream harder as Scourge sucked and regurgitated fluid, drawing it out of Magnus' fuel lines and replacing it with his own.  
  
As Scourge continued to administer his treatment, Galvatron watched with morbid fascination, not fearful, but engrossed in Scourge's ungodly abilities. It should have been a silent display due to the vacuum of space, but Magnus' screams and Scourge's desperate gasps and hungry snarls came to him loud and clear over his in-built radio.  
  
Eventually, Magnus's cries became weaker, the spitting energon ceased to flow, and his body sagged. Tearing himself away, Scourge stared upwards as his dilated optics returned to normal, Magnus' energon and genetic smeared around his mouth and down his front. Shuddering in the afterglow of his climax, Scourge trailed his fingers through the fluid, taking a perverse, almost erotic pleasure from the feel of it, scooping it up and drinking it from his cupped hand. Galvatron allowed him a few seconds to compose himself, and eventually the sucking noises ceased and Scourge stood up, calm and composed. Galvatron nodded and smiled.  
  
"Engrossing material Scourge. Did you really have to do all that?"  
  
Scourge dabbed around his mouth and checked down at the display in Magnus' chest, which calmly blinked - MORNINGSTAR VIRUS DOWNLOAD COMPLETE - FULL REBOOT - 200 BREEMS.  
  
"No, but I was thirsty. And I do enjoy to hear them scream..."  
  
Sharing an evil smile they turned and walked through the bridge slowly. As they went, Scourge dragged a single finger over any Transformer they passed, leaving a faint scarlet trail behind him, which gradually brightened and melted the armour, leaving a thin rent on each chassis, underneath of which the arrayed circuits and microprocessors began to hum and click.  
  
In five minutes the bridge was empty, leaving just the scattered corpses. The ghost ship Salvation continued to drift in Earth's orbit. Eventually, the emergency power began to fail, and the ship passed into the planet's darkside, leaving the bridge lit only by the red glow of the many Transformer optics...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
Well? What do you think of Galvatron and his new forces. I love my new Scourge, and that last bit scared me, the writer when I drafted it.  
  
Again, I love your feedback.  
  
PS. Just to make up for the lack of GW action in this chappie, here's a little joke. What were the boys doing for this chapter?  
  
Recording their debut album. After seeing 'Thunderbirds' at the cinema last week I became fixated on the song 'Thunderbirds are Go' recorded by boyband 'Busted' for the end credits. In order to get it off my mind, I wrote some new lyrics;  
  
GUNDAM TEAM IS GO! (sing to 'Thunderbirds are Go!')  
  
Heero (lead vocalist, electric guitar) Duo (lead vocalist, electric guitar) Trowa (chorus vocalist, synthesizer) Quatre (chorus vocalist, electric guitar) Wufei (chorus vocalist, percussion)  
  
Easter's come around and now our heroes can't be found, there's something major going down around the Earthsphere, (Earthsphere).  
  
Robots underground keep this our planet safe and sound, but Unicron just came around and we're all frightened, (frightened).  
  
But now the bots' are back in town. Now we won't be held down, (down).  
  
Chorus _Can't hold back now, war is raging. Just be glad that we're defending, Transformers are ever changing GO! Not no little battle no when the Gundam Team is go.  
_  
Teens are learning fast, they know their mecha kick some a$$, just can't afford to come out last when fighting hell's side, (hell's side).  
  
Autobots are cool but Decepticons just plain rule, you know that you'd just be a fool to take on these guys, (these guys).  
  
But now the bots' are back in town. Now we won't be held down, (down).  
  
Chorus _Can't hold back now, war is raging. Just be glad that we're defending, Transformers are ever changing GO! Not no little battle no when the Gundam Team is go.  
_  
Gundam Team is go, go, go...  
  
Chorus _Can't hold back now, war is raging. Just be glad that we're defending, Transformers are ever changing GO! Not no little battle no when the Gundam Team is go._  
  
Gundam Team is, Gundam Team is go, Gundam Team is, Gundam Team is go, Gundam Team is, Gundam Team is, GUNDAM TEAM IS, GUNDAM TEAM IS GO!  
  
See Ya'.


	5. Neo Gundam Profiles

BONUS FEATURE! GUNDAM PROFILES!  
  
A/N: This isn't Chapter 3, but a section devoted to the new Gundams. As I update, this chapter will be shunted ahead of each update.  
  
When I came up with these redesigns, I was inspired by many things from both Transformers and Gundam. From the Gundam world, Hajime Katoki's excellent retro-designs of the original five-Gundams provided much inspiration. Mr. Katoki is famed for creating the similar designs for Endless Waltz.  
  
I also received inspiration from the GW manga side-story G-unit, also known as Last Outpost, which describes the adventures of asteroid colony MO-V and its experimental G-Unit Gundams. There are some excellent mecha in this three-volume series, most designed by the treacherous Dr. Berg (more on him later). Trowa refers to MO-V in Chapter 2 while talking with G-unit character Lon Serman, so these mecha may later make an appearance in this fic.  
  
From Transformers I was inspired by the fantastic pre-G1 designs from Dreamwave's War Within comic.  
  
Then, you throw in all of my own half-baked ideas and you get this.  
  
DISCLAIMER:  
  
This is difficult. All of these machines are inspired by copyrighted mecha, but also my own ideas. Therefore, I don't own them, so if people want to use them in their fics, feel welcome - just please e-mail me to let me know. To clarify what's mine in these machines and what's not here's the basic genealogy of the new suits.  
  
WING ZERO CUSTOM: Now a cross between the EW design and the series mecha, with a new paint-job, transformation, buster-rifle and engines.  
  
WING GUNDAM GABRIELLE: A direct copy of the Katoki Wing redesign, which later inspired EW Wing Zero. I tweaked the buster-rifle, shield and transformation a bit, but that's it.  
  
DEATHSCYTHE OMEGA: Hajime Katoki's Deathscythe meets Skyfire from The War Within, with the Hell Custom thrown in for good measure. The variable beam scythe however, is my own creation.  
  
HEAVYARMS BLITZ: Katoki's retro-design, mixed with War Within Megatron and painted up in the colour scheme from EW. The beam whips however, are mine.  
  
SANDROCK SCARAB: Again, a Katoki concept fused with War Within Optimus Prime. The Castor-rifles I dreamt up in a boring Physics class and I adapted the name from the anime 'Outlaw Star'.  
  
ALTRON HYDRA: This is basically the EW Altron but with the dragon-fangs modified to resemble those on Katoki's Shenlong. I also added the beam cannons from the series Altron but modified their configuration.  
  
All of the following have PJ engines modified from G-Unit's LO Booster Gundam.  
  
TALLGEESE: Tallgeese 3's weapons and face-plate, with an actual head crossed between Tallgeese 1. and G-Unit's Asklepios. Asklepios also influenced some of the body-work, but I tired to add something from each original Gundam and the Leo to show that this is the Grandfather of all MS.  
  
DARKFLIGHT/WHITEFLIGHT: I like these things. They are mine! Influenced by the Taurus, Gemini suits and the G-Unit Gundams LO Booster and Greipe, and some Epyon in Darkflight. Darkflight's colours were inspired by the time my computer's DVD-ROM went on the fritz and inverted all the colours on my EW DVD! Marimaia's Tauruses look cool in black and blue. Interestingly, Deathscythe's scythe came out blood-red and yellow beam energy turned purple!  
  
ZENITH: There is a Gundam Aquarius in one of the Gundam video-games, but I only took the Anti-MD spine concept from this. This machine is essentially Epyon but without the EPYON System and different armaments/armour/engines/colours. I also thought up the name Zenith.  
  
A/N: Well, with the longest Disclaimer I've ever written complete, here's the actual Specs, with a full history for each suit as well. Just one Warning; this can at times get technical. If you get confused by all the sciency talk, I suggest you shut your computer down and watch some infant-themed TV to bring you back down to Earth. Pokemon, Sailor Moon, or anything featuring George W Bush Junior, Tony Blair or Saddam Hussein (also known as the Three Stooges) is highly recommended.  
  
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ESGW-00B Gundam Wing Zero Custom  
  
(XXXG-00W0)  
  
Unit function: General Combat, All Terrain, Space  
  
Head height: 16.7m  
  
Base weight: 8t  
  
Armor: Gundanium, Kevlar  
  
Designed: AC180, AC199  
  
Designer: J,G,S,H,O, Lon Serman  
  
Pilot: Heero Yuy  
  
Armament: Twin Buster Rifle, Beam Sword (x2), Machine-Cannon (x2), Wing Vulcan (x2)  
  
Equipment: Plasma-Jet Engine (x2), ZERO System  
  
Fighting Ability: 200  
  
Weapons Ability: 160  
  
Speed Ability: 200  
  
Power Ability: 140  
  
Armored Ability: 150  
  
Total: 850  
  
History:  
  
Wing Zero is perhaps the third oldest of all combat mobile suits. Though the Leo was built before-hand, it can be reasoned that it does not count as it is a downgrade of the Tallgeese. The second oldest MS is the Taurus (see under Whiteflight/Darkflight).  
  
The story of the Wing Zero begins with the design of the Tallgeese, AC174. Though that worthy machine was one of the most powerful ever built, the design team's original blueprint was rejected by OZ as it exceeded their budget.  
  
Five copies of this blueprint were deposited in the OZ files, but were taken by each of the scientists when they abandoned the project in the wake of the April 7 AC175 assassination of Heero Yuy. Though they believed the file deleted, the did not know that several back-ups existed (which were later to cause numerous headaches for pretty much everyone in the Earthsphere).  
  
During the next five years each scientist worked on their individual blueprints in isolation, until they were able to arrange a meeting in AC180, their intention being to develop a Gundam to fight OZ and atone for their sin of bestowing the curse of the MS on the world. Their individual designs were brought together, and refined into a single design.  
  
Japanese National Dr. J (unofficial leader of the team) had by this point come-up with a suitable base blueprint for the final product. As on the Tallgeese, he was also electrical engineer for the project.  
  
South American Professor G was responsible mainly for the reactor & propulsion systems. Because he was still in contact with their fellow engineer Howard he was able to obtain the designs for Tallgeese's engines though OZ had sold the patent to the Vernier Rocket & Engine company.  
  
British Doktor S was able to put his armaments knowledge to use to design the weaponry, and together with G improved on J's concept beam rifle. They reputedly had several heated arguments while working together and as a joke they named their final device the Buster Rifle, as they 'nearly busted each other up over it'.  
  
Instructor H as before, designed the programming. On the practical side he devoted most of his time to also writing the programming that would cast the genetic alloy Gundanium into armour plating.  
  
Finally African Master O worked the mechanical systems into an extremely simple, but workable and versatile design. It is also believed that he with his ethnic background finalised the Gundam's exterior styling.  
  
Together the five scientists were also able to develop their concept of a 'neural interface' between suit and pilot into a finalised control-system, the Zoning Emotion Response & Omission or ZERO System. This was incorporated into the design of the Gundam, and combined with its flight ability, leant to it the name of Gundam Wing Zero.  
  
Before they could put Wing Zero into production however, the scientists were found out and forced to scatter to different colonies, where they continued to develop their Gundam designs while posing as civilians under new identities. It is curious to note that there was still a sense of teamwork among the scattered group; their designs retaining J's basic concept, G's Minovsky science, S's Vulcan Guns and Machine-Cannons, H's programming and manufacturing process, and O's mechanical designs and exterior styling. At the same time, all five realised the dangers of the ZERO System and scrapped it from their designs. The Wing Zero however, continued to exist merely on paper and computer data...  
  
...Until AC195, when Gundam pilot Quatre Winner required a replacement for the Sandrock suit H had built, and found the Zero blueprints in his family's database. After construction, he became the Zero's first pilot and quickly came under the mind-warping influence of the ZERO. After many months however, he was able to overcome this disability and master the ZERO.  
  
In those months however, Wing Zero had come under the guardianship of Heero Yuy, who remained its pilot throughout the conflicts of AC195 and 196.  
  
Despite it's brilliance of design and unmatched superiority over the other Gundams, the Wing Zero design was still nearly twenty years old by AC198, when the Transformers were discovered. While Howard and Chris Latta slavishly worked out modifications for the other four Gundams using transformer tech, Isla Nublar facility Engineer Lon Serman was ordered to manufacture the new components, and given Carte Blanche to redesign the remaining Gundams as he saw fit.  
  
Wing Zero, in the Gundam heritage of sharing ideas and technologies, was rebuilt inside and out with parts from it's MS brothers and cousins. Internally, though the basic layout remained the same, Serman was able to replace most of the original systems with the twenty-years of technology that had surpassed it.  
  
Elsewhere, the original Vernier reactor by-product engines, still twenty- years old, were replaced with the next generation of indirect-plasma propulsion, where fuel elements are forced through the reactor space, being released as a superheated plasma which not only gives enormous thrust, but is non-polluting and can recycle any substance as fuel. These engines have variable modes as well. For sub-atmospheric manoeuvres the engines retain their sleek appearance and have very little movement. Outside of the atmosphere however, the thrust from the engine is redirected through numerous 'feathers', which open up from the underside of the manifold. These spread the thrust out for more uniform acceleration and allow incredible manoeuvrability because these can flex and bend almost like a bird's wing.  
  
Externally, it became impossible to fit everything within the original Gundanium casing, so spare armour from the parallel Wing Gundam project was used where possible. Of all Gundams the most closely related, Wing Zero and Wing now resemble each other to the nth degree (the heads and upper torsos are physical twins), but still manage to retain their own identities. The style of the Zero's limb armour is very mechanical, with shaved-off corners and angular, straight edges rather than the curving lines of Wing Gabrielle. The paint scheme reflects this, ranging towards the darker end of the spectrum with heavy reds and blues. Lighter colours are used sparingly, and white is reserved solely for the exposed portions of the legs and arms.  
  
The Buster Rifle received minor modifications to reduce it's weight and increase its efficiency, but is basically the same. The main improvement to the weapons is that the Beam Sabres have been replaced with Beam Swords which are powered directly from the MS's reactor and thus cannot loose power (as occurred in the final battle of AC195 before Heero could destroy the reactor of a chunk of the space battleship Libra.)  
  
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ESGW-01B Gundam Wing Gabrielle  
  
(XXXG-01W)  
  
Unit function: General Purpose, All Terrain  
  
Head height: 16.3m  
  
Base weight: 7.1t  
  
Armor: Gundanium  
  
Designed: AC188, AC199  
  
Designer: Doctor J, Lon Serman  
  
Pilot: Relena Dorlain  
  
Armament: Buster Rifle, Beam Sabre (x2), Machine-Cannon (x2), Vulcan Gun (x2), Fighting Ability: 200  
  
Weapons Ability: 160  
  
Speed Ability: 210  
  
Power Ability: 120  
  
Armored Ability: 130  
  
Total: 820  
  
History:  
  
In AC188 the rogue scientists were approached by militant pro-colonist Quinze, formerly a member of Heero Yuy's cabinet. Quinze proposed that each build a mecha to fight OZ and gain revenge for the assassination of Yuy, while actually planning to use them in the barbaric 'Operation Meteor' he and Dekim Barton had devised. This involved dropping a colony on Earth and then sending the Gundams in during the aftermath to assert control over the surviving population (though civilian deaths in excess of 2 billion were estimated).  
  
Dr. J's machine was constructed on colony L1C1013 but without the financial backing of the Barton Foundation by J's own choice. Preferring to seek the aid of people he trusted, J received materials and capitol from a guerrilla army located in the L1 cluster. Originally it was planned that one of these rebels would pilot the completed machine, but that plan was laid aside when J discovered an orphaned boy wandering the streets and offered him the opportunity to pilot a Gundam. Ironically, this same child is actually the adopted son of Odin Lowe, the assassin who had shot Heero Yuy in AC175.  
  
The five Gundams were built gradually over a seven year period. Given the considerable resources of the rebel army the Wing Zero J was building could have been completed in a fraction of this time but J suspected both Quinze and Dekim of planning to overthrow Earth and not just strike back at OZ. Some espionage by the five scientists later proved that hunch correct and J began delaying construction in order to plan a solution.  
  
He decided to subvert 'Operation Meteor' by training his young pilot to strike against OZ and OZ alone. To this end, that young man went through a barrage of merciless training intended not only to build his body and hone his skills but remove him of all emotion and feeling to better his function as a weapon. Consequently this child was seemingly drained of all humanity.  
  
At the same time J downgraded the MS he was building from Wing Zero to his original blueprint (albeit with modifications to improve it's armament and efficiency) as he did not want to risk the Barton's gaining control of a machine as powerful as the Zero. The end result retained the same armament but sacrificed speed, power, the uber-efficient Buster Rifle design and of course the insanely brilliant ZERO System but still remained a fast and powerful machine suited to both long and close-range combat.  
  
Prior to being launched to Earth on April 7th AC195 J confirmed his pilot's orders to strike against OZ and then bestowed the code-name Heero Yuy on his 'weapon.'  
  
During the following months Wing was used successfully against OZ before being self-detonated and subsequently rebuilt. Shortly after however, Heero took on the custody of Wing Zero and rarely used Wing again.  
  
It's only appearance in the Eve Wars of December 195 was when it was hijacked by OZ officer Ann Une who placed it in the path of a barrage from the Battleship Libra intended to strike down World Nation ruler Trieze Kushrenada. Though badly damaged, Wing was subsequently recovered in secret by the newly formed Earthsphere Security Services (or Preventers).  
  
Placed in storage at their Isla Nublar facility but not repaired, Wing's future seemed bleak, though Preventer mechanic Lon Serman had taken a shine to it and prepared blueprints for modifications to take it above and beyond it's limitations. Serman finally got authorisation to modify Wing in AC198 and quickly fitted the new components he had secretly designed and constructed.  
  
Like Wing Zero, Wing was fitted with Plasma Jet Engines installed in a new set of wing binders, retaining the translucent, almost insectile style of their predecessors but now redesigned to have a greater aesthetic appeal. The Buster Rifle has also been modified to now fire continuously instead of needing to recharge after every three shots in its previous incarnation.  
  
Internally, the cockpit retains the traditional twin collective layout but has received the addition of a 3D radar system like the Wing Zero. Finally, the redundant computers and sensors in the green chest housing have finally been put to their original use; the feeding of data to the ZERO System. Realising full well however that any new pilot would initially not be able to handle the ZERO, Serman put in a lock-out circuit to prevent it automatically activating with the suit; a simple key (in his possession) is needed to complete the circuit.  
  
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ESGW-02C Gundam Deathscythe Omega  
  
(XXXG-01D2)  
  
Unit function: Stealth, All Terrain  
  
Head height: 16.3m  
  
Base weight: 7.4t  
  
Armor: Gundanium  
  
Designed: AC188, AC195, AC198  
  
Designer: J,G,S,H,O, Howard Calahan, Chris Latta  
  
Pilot: Duo Maxwell  
  
Armament: Variable Beam Scythe, Vulcan Gun (x2), Buster Sheild (x2), Doberlauncher (x2).  
  
Equipment: Stealth Plating, Hyper Jammers (x2).  
  
Fighting Ability: 210  
  
Weapons Ability: 170  
  
Speed Ability: 170  
  
Power Ability: 120  
  
Armored Ability: 140  
  
Total: 810  
  
History:  
  
The Gundam of Professor G was initially not built on a single colony. After several months of merging his independent concept with the refinements of the Wing Zero, G approached old friend Howard Calahan, now operator of the Sweepers Organization. The Sweepers were a government-sanctioned group authorised to clean up 300 years of space junk. Most of the salvage was sold as scrap but some historic artefacts were sanctioned for preservation including former Apollo stages and the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which was set adrift at the end of its life rather than suffer the ignobility of scrap.  
  
Professor G was a brilliant if arrogant man. Determined to prove the superiority of Minovsky weapons over conventional firearms (an old argument between himself and Doktor S), he spent most of his time devising how to scatter the surplus reactor energy in order to totally shield his Gundam from tracking devices. The result of this effort; the Hyper-Jammers were retained on every version of his machine.  
  
Partly inspired by the engravings of 18th century engraver Gustav Dore, G styled his masterpiece in the appearance of a hellish demon. Carrying on this concept and his personal opinions on armaments he also designed a fiendishly wicked beam scythe. Other than standard Vulcan Guns and Machine Cannons, the Gundam's only other weapon was an intricate 'Buster Shield' a device which not only provided a shield against enemy fire, but which could also project a beam blade of it's own and be fired into enemy troops via air-impulse.  
  
The machine he had named 'Deathscythe' was built in sections at the Sweepers' various installations. Constructed from salvaged parts and recycled materials it was the cheapest of the five Gundams but the one that took the longest to built. The basic components were first brought together on Colony L2V08744 in AC192 and testing and pilot training commenced while the various subsystems and weapons were built and installed.  
  
Eventually, G informed the Barton's that Deathsycthe was completed and ready for the launch date of April 7th AC195, though he knew full well how they intended to use it. By this point however the young pilot was also aware of the truth of Operation Meteor and attempted to subvert the mission on April 6th. G confronted him and suggested he 'steal' Deathscythe and take it to Earth to carry out attacks on OZ as his pseudonym - "The God of Death.". With that, G and American teen Duo Maxwell parted, after G passed on the name of Howard as a reliable ally.  
  
Deathsycthe served with distinction in the wars of 195, at one point being updated to the more formidable Deathscythe Hell by all 5 scientists while imprisoned by OZ. It's career however seemed ended on Christmas day AC196 when it and the other four Gundams were all destroyed by their pilots.  
  
However the five machines were all reconstructed by the Preventers the following year. Again however, Deathscythe was sacrificed by pilot Maxwell in the Artic after the activation of deranged Transformer Starscream.  
  
Technically, the Deathscythe Omega is a whole new machine, but since some parts from the original were salvaged and reused, it can be said that there is a continuous link through all three machines.  
  
Like the original machine, it carries Hyper-Jammers and now two Buster Shields. The only other long-range weapons other than the Vulcan Guns are the two shoulder-mounted Dober-launchers, effectively two rail-guns loaded with Grenades.  
  
The Twin Beam Scythe is now perhaps the most versatile beam weapon in the world. It is a simple concept; two adjustable beam projectors are mounted on a collapsible staff. Because the position of the blades can be altered a variety of different weapons can be generated, from varied scythes (single, twin and large) to pikes and tridents. In combat either of the projectors can also be removed and held like a sword-hilt, allowing Deathscythe to fight with a pair of beam sabres.  
  
Though the active-cloak of the Hell has been removed, Deathscythe has gained an aircraft transformation, a Mach-7 version of the Soviet Mig-31 or Firefox. This along with its improved engines make the Omega one of the fastest and most versatile mecha in the Earthsphere.  
  
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ESGW-03C Gundam Heavyarms Blitz  
  
(XXXG-01H2)  
  
Unit function: Artillery Support, All Terrain  
  
Head height: 16.7t  
  
Base weight: 8.2t  
  
Armor: Gundanium  
  
Designed: AC188, AC195, AC198  
  
Designer: Doktor S, Howard Calahan (x2), Chris Latta  
  
Pilot: Trowa Barton  
  
Armament: Beam Gatling, Dual Gatling Gun (x2), Chest Gatling (x4), Homing Missile (x44), Micromissile (x48), Beam Whip (x2), Heat Machette (x2).  
  
Equipment: Minovsky Generator (x2).  
  
Fighting Ability: 150  
  
Weapons Ability: 210  
  
Speed Ability: 130  
  
Power Ability: 140  
  
Armored Ability: 180  
  
Total: 810  
  
History:  
  
Doktor S was the scientist who initially suspected Quinze and Dekim; having worked at a Barton Foundation factory prior to designing the Tallgeese, he doubted the militaristic Dekim was one to support revenge of his pacifist nemesis Heero Yuy. Consequently, S opted to use the offered supplies, finances and facilities of the Barton Foundation in order to both build his machine and do some spying from inside the Foundation.  
  
The downside to taking up Dekim's offer was that a pre-chosen pilot was forced on S, his equally fanatical pro-colonist son Trowa.  
  
As stated S was a advocate of conventional munitions. Having taught military history at the Sandhurst Military Academy in Britain as well as study engineering he was well versed in the various means man had devised to slaughter one another. Therefore, he decided to style his Gundam's primary weapons on his favourite firearm; the Gatling Cannon. This was based on aesthetic appeal as well as the gun's efficiency, as demonstrated in the American Civil War.  
  
As well as two standard artillery Gatlings mounted in the machine's chest, S conceded to the changing times by adding a giant Beam Gatling to the left arm; this fired the same amount of energy as the Buster Rifle, but spread it out over a longer time period and a wider area.  
  
For extra firepower, S added a battery of both micro and homing missiles. The lone close-range weapon was the recessed army knife in the right forearm, a superheated blade which was later shown to be very useful as a last resource.  
  
By the time construction had began on colony L3X18999, S had discovered the truth behind 'Operation Meteor' and circulated this to the other scientists. Rather than subvert his project however, S continued with construction and hoped to turn either Dekim or Trowa at the last second.  
  
On the evening of April 6th, S presented his suggested list of targets to Trowa. Angered that S had never planned to go along with Dekim's plan, the headstrong youth declared he would announce S's treachery, at which point S's assistant shot him in the back, a man with family on Earth who he did not want murdered by the sadistic Bartons.  
  
The only witness to the murder was a nameless technician who offered to become Heavyarms' guardian, but openly stated he had no interest in civilian deaths. From that moment on, that youth took on the name of Trowa Barton.  
  
Like it's brothers, Heavyarm's fought admirably on Earth, but did not return to space with it's pilot. Hidden on Earth, Heavyarms was delivered to Howard for modifications for space combat in return for the Eve Wars, in which it placed a vital role as the Heavyarms Kai. However, just like the other four Gundams it was eventually destroyed in December AC196.  
  
Like them though it was reconstructed by the Preventers and fought in several smaller battles before being severely damaged by the Deceptidrone troops of Onslaught. Consequently it was rebuild to be more powerful than ever before.  
  
In the new Blitz the basic Beam Gatling was retained, but was enlarged and adapted to take its power from two shoulder-mounted generators, allowing a constant rate of fire that could be maintained indefinitely.  
  
The number of Chest Gatlings were doubled and the total number of missiles increased to 92. There is also provision for a double-barrelled Gatling Gun mounted over a hand-carried shield.  
  
Finally, ample provision has been made for close-combat. There is now an army knife on both arms, and a pair of beam weapons have been added. Given 'Trowa's' skill in a lion-taming act at the circus where he lived during the war, the form of a whip was chosen. Though powerful, these weapons are heavy due to the large amount of processing power needed to calculate and generate the constantly changing containment matrix.  
  
Like the other Gundams, Heavyarms now has a transformation, an all-terrain tank. In this process, the torso lies flat and the head is covered by the shield which becomes a cowcatcher. The fore-arms and shoulders become a pair of caterpillar tracks while the generators become a second pair at the back. Finally the legs fold over and lie flat along the machine's back. The benefit of this design is that all of the long-range weapons can be fired with the exception of the chest Gatlings.  
  
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ESGW-04C Gundam Sandrock Scarab  
  
(XXXG-01SR2)  
  
Unit function: Close-Combat Fighter, Ground  
  
Head height: 17.4m  
  
Base weight: 7.4t  
  
Armor: Gundanium  
  
Designed: AC188, AC195, AC198  
  
Designer: Instructor H, Howard Calahan (x2), Chris Latta  
  
Pilot: Quatre Winner  
  
Armament: Heat Shotels (x2), Castor Rifles (x2), Mandibles (x2), Machine Cannon (x2) Vulcan Gun (x2).  
  
Equipment: Planet Defensors (x8)  
  
Fighting Ability: 140  
  
Weapons Ability: 150  
  
Speed Ability: 160  
  
Power Ability: 160  
  
Armored Ability: 210  
  
Total: 820  
  
History:  
  
Instructor H originally had grave reservations over any form of attack on Earth from space, but still wanted to get revenge against OZ for their crimes and his own. Believing that any Gundams sent from the colonies would be piloted by radicals who would have no qualms over the deaths of innocent bystanders, he opted to design and construct his Gundam on Earth, allowing it to be piloted by a trained and responsible soldier. After searching for a sizeable force of such men, he found them in AC189.  
  
By the AC180s resentful feelings were swelling on Earth as well as in the colonies towards the UESA. Several Middle-Eastern powers, with financial aid from the exiled government and monarchy of the United Kingdom (which had never been part of the Romerfeller Foundation) had secretly created the rebel army of the Independent Middle East Forces to stage multiple attacks against the Alliance and OZ. However, despite having numerous troops, air, naval and armoured units, the IMEF lacked MS. After smuggling himself to Earth, H offered his services as an engineer to Forces commander Sadual, who commissioned him to build enough suits to serve a fifty-man fleet.  
  
H soon came up with three designs, general combat, artillery support, and air support. While he finalised the blueprints Sadual forged new identities for fifty of his best soldiers, led by Forces Captain Rashid Kurama and enrolled them in the Alliance Military for MS training. As soon as their training with OZ was complete each man went AWOL and returned to their base of operations, where they helped H customise the fifty general combat suits according to each man's preferences.  
  
They named their new machines Maganac, after their Corps, and quickly gained a reputation as loyal and fierce warriors. The second generation of machines soon followed, Oliphaunt, but the aerial unit, Trojan, never left the drawing-board.  
  
In AC192 the Independent Middle East Forces was beaten into submission by a joint attack by OZ and the former People's Republic of China after their headquarters position was given away by a traitor. 41 of the Maganacs and H, by now their team mechanic survived along with fifty of their machines and became a rogue force, a wild-card who randomly allied themselves with anti-alliance organisations.  
  
In AC193 the Maganacs learned many civilians had been conscripted by the Alliance into slave labour on resource satellite MO-III. Deciding to liberate the facility they ensured their safety by hijacking a shuttle carrying the male heir to the benevolent and wealthy Winner family, Quatre. This allowed the sympathising Winner father to supply them with ships and resources without loosing face.  
  
While on the satellite Quatre formed an empathic bond with the Maganacs and H. He soon earned their respect and loyalty first by exposing the traitor among them, Yuda, taking a bullet meant for Captain Kurama and then piloting that Captain's suit against an alliance attack with spectacular results.  
  
Realising he had found a pilot worthy of his machine, ironically a colony citizen, H did not return to Earth with the Maganacs but followed Quatre to the L4 cluster, where Sahib Winner reluctantly granted the Instructor sanctuary and the facilities to built his Gundam. Because of the mammoth resources of the Winners, Sandrock was designed and built in two years.  
  
The Gundam Sandrock was effectively a super-enhanced Maganac suit, and like them was primarily designed for close-quarters desert warfare, the main weapons being its Heat Shotels, giant superheated sickles intended to slice enemy machines apart with Sandrock's superior strength. Other than that it's weapons were just the standard low calibre guns and two shoulder missiles, along with a shield for protection.  
  
Having learnt through his colleagues of the Barton Foundation's malicious intent, H openly told Quatre to ignore the Foundation's orders and fight as his heart told him. Sahib Winner only became aware of his son's piloting skills at the moment Operation Meteor began, when Quatre left his colony with Sandrock, leaving a single note explaining his reasons.  
  
Sandrock was the second Gundam to be destroyed by its pilot after Wing, but was subsequently recovered and repaired by the Maganacs. Like Heavyarms it was refitted for space combat just in time for the Eve Wars (the only addition to weaponry being a small machine gun).  
  
Quatre tried to subsequently destroy all of the Gundams by sending them into the sun, but bravely recovered them to change the outcome of December AC196, though Sandrock and it's brothers were all destroyed after that short conflict. Like them, it was rebuilt to fight for peace, and severely damaged in the battle with the drone forces of Onslaught.  
  
Sandrock Scarab has become a more balanced machine, capable of fighting at long and short-range. The heat shotels now have their own micro-reactors, allowing them to run (in theory) infinitely. On each arm are a pair of mandible crushers; mechanical claws capable of seizing and crushing enemy machines.  
  
Supplementing this are a pair of Castor Rifles. Ideal for Quatre's preference for non-lethal solutions, they use the principle of X-ray generation to create a stream of highly charged electrons that short-out circuitry, disabling enemy machines. If needed, that same stream can be used to propel bullets, and each rifle has a magazine feed for this purpose.  
  
Defensively Sandrock's armour is sufficient against projectiles, but against beam weaponry it carries an eight-strong rack of planet defensors, spherical flying disks that create an anti-beam field.  
  
It's vehicle mode is an eight wheeled all-terrain transport with four wheels at the front and a group of four supporting it's rear. The electric drive motors on all four axles make this vehicle fast and powerful.  
  
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ESGW-05C Gundam Altron Hydra  
  
(XXXG-01S2)  
  
Unit function: Close-Combat Fighter, All Terrain  
  
Head height: 16.4m  
  
Base weight: 7.5t  
  
Armor: Gundanium  
  
Designed: AC188, AC195, AC198  
  
Designer: J,G,S,H,O, Howard Calahan, Chris Latta  
  
Pilot: Wufei Chang  
  
Armament: Dragon-Fang (x2), Flamethrower (x4), Beam Trident, Machine -Cannon (x2) Vulcan Gun (x2).  
  
Equipment: Turmansky Jet Engine (x2).  
  
Fighting Ability: 200  
  
Weapons Ability: 140  
  
Speed Ability: 170  
  
Power Ability: 150  
  
Armored Ability: 140  
  
Total: 800  
  
History: Master O is the most reclusive of the scientists. Known for his strong feelings against the Alliance, he partly supported Dekim Barton and only after seeing the suffering the people of Earth were enduring along with their colony counterparts decided to not go along with the original Operation Meteor.  
  
Before he reached this decision however he tried to return to his native Africa to design his machine in peace, only to find his former home razed to the ground by the mobile suits he had helped design, his people suffering and stricken with disease.  
  
Trying to find a place where he could make peace with himself, O retreated to Asia, where he came under the tutorage of first a band of Buddhist monks. Finding he could only express his anger in physical combat O later left to China where he met the last Earth-dwelling members of the Long Clan, a famous tribe of warriors which had been exiled to the aging colony L5A02026 early in the After Colony age.  
  
After several years of harsh discipline under the Longs, O decided he had to built a Gundam not only to atone for his sins but to avenge every man, woman and child that had suffered under the Alliance.  
  
O was informed by the Longs that their counterparts in the colonies had the finances to build the demon machine he felt he had to create, and provided him with a reference in order to convince the clan leaders he came with their blessing.  
  
O was allowed to built the Shenlong Gundam on A02026, but only on the condition that he also build a machine to protect the colony against the Alliance Space Forces. Fulfilling this deal, O built a clone of the production-line Tallgeese but using Gundanium in order to allow the Longs to practice manipulating the super-alloy before moving onto the main project.  
  
By AC193, Shenlong's body was complete but no weapons had been constructed save for the standard low-calibre guns. The pilot of the Tallgeese had been chosen as Meilan Chang, a young tomboy. Her teen husband, Wufei, preferred to study rather than fight and looked down on his wife's obsession with combat, even though he easily bested her in the martial arts.  
  
In that year, Alliance Space Forces Commander Septem sadistically ordered that A02026 population's was to be wiped out with poison gas in order to save the cost of demolishing the colony and re-locating them. In order to defend the colony, Meilan took her Tallgeese out and died fighting. Wufei vanquished the remaining suits using the Shenlong and weapons he picked up from the battlefield. To protect the people, a young Alliance doctor named Sally Po informed General Septem that the Longs had been wiped out and A02026 destroyed. Two years later, Shenlong was launched to Earth.  
  
Wufei took on the task of piloting Shenlong, which he renamed 'Nataku' in honour of his dead wife. It would seem he had a hand in designed the weapons systems along with O, for they were best suited to elaborate martial-arts combat rather than practical fighting; only a person with martial-arts skills could use it in combat; it would be practically useless in any other battlefield. These armaments were the dragon-fang (a extendable claw with built-in flamethrowers) and the beam glaive (in effect a long pikestaff with a short blade).  
  
Those problems were re-addressed when the five scientists upgraded the Shenlong to the Altron Gundam at the same time as refitting the Deathscythe. The beam glaive was replaced with a superior double-ended beam trident and the number of Dragon-fangs doubled. At the same-time a independently targetable Beam Cannon was added for long-range combat.  
  
Altron went through the same process of war, destruction and reconstruction as the other Gundams (with the exception that it briefly fought for the Bartons in the AC196 revolution), and again was sent to Isla Nublar for upgrade in January 199.  
  
The armament has not changed an inch except that the dragon-fangs were re- built for combat within gravity (the previous version operated on an electromagnet manipulation system that was only effective in zero-g). The beam cannons are now pivoted freely on the shoulders and the flamethrowers are mounted on the arms instead of on the Dragon-fangs. Like Deathscythe, the trident blades are adjustable allowing many new varieties of combat.  
  
Shenlong is also an experiment into the use of non Vernier-derived engines. Two Turmansky Ramjet Engines for space and aerial combat were installed in the torso, each putting out 50,000lbs of thrust. These are particularly useful in the new aircraft mode, like Deathscythe a variant on the Mig-31 Firefox.  
  
In short, Altron Hydra is now faster, stronger and more adaptable than any other version of this design, a machine which commands respect from all that lay eyes on it.  
  
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ESGW-06D Gundam Tallgeese  
  
(OZ-00MS) (Leo Prototype)  
  
Unit function: General Combat  
  
Head height: 17.4m  
  
Base weight: 8.1t  
  
Armor: Gundanium  
  
Designed: AC175, AC195, AC198  
  
Designer: (J,G,S,H,O,HC), Lon Serman  
  
Pilot: Zechs Marquise  
  
Armament: Mega-Cannon, Beam Sword (x2), Heat Rod, Vulcan Gun (x2), Machine Cannon (x2).  
  
Equipment: Plasma Jet Engine (x2).  
  
Fighting Ability: 150  
  
Weapons Ability: 170  
  
Speed Ability: 240  
  
Power Ability: 130  
  
Armored Ability: 130  
  
Total: 850  
  
History:  
  
To date there have been two Tallgeese designs. The first of these was designed in AC174 by the five Gundam scientists.  
  
In AC173, the Unified Earthsphere Alliance sought to begin research into combat-equipped mobile-suits. The name Mobile Suit is actually a corruption of the acronym Manipulator Order Build and Industrial Labour (MOBIL) Suit.  
  
Mobile Suits were first developed not long after the AC calendar commenced as tools to aid in the construction of the space colonies. The first were actually mechanical space-suits with hand actuators to help the human pilot within. Through the next two centuries they grew in size eventually becoming humanoid machines with mechanical hands that could hold and manipulate a wide variety of tools.  
  
With the turbulent political climate of the second AC century, Mobile Suits were soon outfitted with various weapons (initially missiles and tank- cannons). Outfitted as such, they soon proved themselves superior to conventional combat vehicles, being capable of crossing all kinds of terrain on their two legs and even space combat. These crudely modified pieces of construction equipment were soon being deployed in various theatres of war across the Earthsphere.  
  
In AC174 the Unified Earthsphere Alliance put out a general contract for the first combat mobile-suit. The contract was sold to a weapons company called 'Offensive Zenith' or OZ, actually a subsidy of a giant European conglomerate known as the Romerfeller Foundation.  
  
OZ began headhunting the best Mobile Suit designers on and off Earth. Eventually a uniquely skilled design team was assembled at their Corsica factory to build the first combat designed mobile-suit, the OZ-00MS or Leo. Three scientists operated originally; Doctor J, a Japanese electronics expert. Instructor H, a German metallurgist and programmer, and Master O, an African designer of industrial mobile suits. These three were able to assemble a basic design, but quickly began to run into problems.  
  
Firstly, the gas-turbine selected to power the new weapon was soon found to be too bulky to fit in the frame. The proposed solution was Minovsky Fusion, the power of the new millennium. In this simple reactor, a light isotope of helium, Helium-3, is fused with a heavy isotope of Hydrogen, Deuterium. The output of this reactor is superheated helium, direct electricity from the reactor plasma and the mysterious energy emission known as the Minovsky or M-particle. However, such a compact reactor had never been built. OZ hired a South-American Fusion expert, Professor G who headed up a second team to design the reactor, with rapid success. G also implied he could harness the M-particle output as a weapon, so he was retained on the main team of engineers.  
  
After this, it was proposed to add several standard artillery weapons to supplement G's proposed 'beam weapons'. To this end, a munitions expert and tutor from the British Military Academy in Sandhurst, Doktor S, was cultivated and added to the design team.  
  
Eventually a final design was arrived at. G's promise of radical new weaponry was borne out with his elaborate 'Beam Sabres' and the 'Beam- Cannon' he and S developed. S also came up with the concept of a 'Heat Rod' to recycle the wasted reactor heat.  
  
Weight was cut down with the use of the new ultra-light, ultra-strong space alloy Gundanium. Despite this however and the brilliantly light yet powerful mechanical systems of Master O, the machine was still too heavy to fly as originally proposed by mounting twin jet engines on it's back. The final addition to the team solved this problem. Howard Calahan, an American aeronautics engineer was an expert in the propulsion systems of shuttle- craft. With G he designed a new micro-engine that combusted the vented helium with rocket fuel to generate enough propulsion to lift the heavy suit.  
  
Extremely pleased with themselves, the six engineers presented their Leo design to the OZ management board in early AC175, along with the basic specifications for a space combat MS (Taurus), and were promptly snubbed on grounds of cost and excessive firepower. So amused were the directors with the hyper-powerful, hyper-expensive Leo prototype that they renamed it Tallgeese, a play on the phrase 'White Elephant.'  
  
Rejected, the six-strong team went back to the drawing board and spent a lengthy period simplifying the blueprint and removing what was too radical or expensive. Among these were the following:  
  
The use of the new hyper-alloy Gundanium as armour.  
  
The radical beam cannon and heat-rod, which were substituted for a shell- firing Dober-gun.  
  
A neural-interface system to increase both the pilot's reaction speed and his 'awareness'.  
  
The instantly recognisable 'style' of the Gundams (and the name Gundam).  
  
Then, before they completed stripping down the Tallgeese, the Romerfeller Foundation, through OZ, organised the assassination of pacifist colony leader Heero Yuy on April 7th AC175, as he was threatening to end the wars that kept their pocketbooks full. Despite suspicions against them, OZ were never acquitted in a court of law, but the six engineers, disgusted, quit the project - each keeping a copy of the blueprint.  
  
The Tallgeese design was further simplified by the new engineer called in by OZ to finish the job, Doctor Berg. Berg was an skilled designer of mobile-suits but his skills paled in comparison with those of his predecessors. It was Berg who began the actual construction of Tallgeese and then halted it halfway realising the down-graded machine still exceeded the requirements of the Alliance. After successfully simplifying the design into the OZ-06MS, or Leo, Berg was appointed as their Chief MS Engineer and went on to design the Zodiac series of mobile suits.  
  
In AC195 OZ Colonel Zechs Marquise required a mobile suit powerful enough to rival the Gundams that had arrived on Earth. Walker, a close friend and technician at Corsica, was able to refurbish the half-completed Tallgeese, which soon proved itself above and beyond conventional MS, and in Zechs' capable hands, more than a match for the Gundams.  
  
Eventually however, Zechs exceeded the Tallgeese's abilities and was forced to sacrifice it, detonating it while briefly taking on the custody of Wing Zero.  
  
At the same time however, Treize Kushrenada had been seemingly imprisoned in Luxemburg by the Romerfeller Foundation. Rebel OZ soldiers however who supported him infiltrated the base and replaced his guards, allowing him total freedom of the facility. At the same time, Treize recovered the last copy of the original Tallgeese blueprint from OZ's files and, coupled with data gathered on the Gundams, began a directive to build superior Mobile- suits. Four machines were built, the OZ-13MS (Sagittarius), the OZ-14MS (Aquarius) and two Tallgeeses. Structurally, these Tallgeeses were clones of the Berg variant, though one was outfitted with the weaponry planned for the original machine.  
  
Treize later passed the Sagittarius (also known as the Epyon) along to Gundam pilot Heero Yuy, and piloted the weaker of the two Tallgeeses (known as the Tallgeese 2) in the Eve wars, where he died. The second, stronger machine was sealed away in storage by Treize prior to his 'final war', and was recovered by Zechs Marquise for a last stand during the Barton Revolution of AC196.  
  
Unlike the Gundams, this Tallgeese 3 was not destroyed on December 25th AC196, but retained in service through the next two years until being self- detonated by its temporary pilot Duo Maxwell. Because this machine was built from Neo-Titanium and not Gundanium, it was totally destroyed. Therefore, the machine constructed on Isla Nublar by Lon Serman using Howard's copy of the original blueprint is a completely new suit, and for the first time, fulfils and even exceeds the potential of the original design.  
  
The weapons systems are virtually identical to the Tallgeese 3. The beam cannon (now known as the mega-cannon to distinguish it from other designs) is a self-powered beam rail-gun with equal power to the Twin Buster Rifle, which is slightly smaller, lighter and about 10% more fuel-efficient.  
  
The two beam sabres have now been replaced with Beam Swords, making full- use of the reactor emissions. The Tallgeese is now also fitted with the ZERO System, allowing it to keep up with the impressive skills of its pilot.  
  
Like most of the suits given over to the care of Lon Serman, the Tallgeese's original Verniers have been replaced with Plasma Jet Engines, which now make the Tallgeese the fastest mobile suit ever built.  
  
Finally, and most importantly, the Tallgeese is now a fully-fledged Gundam, outfitted with the legendary armour and restyled to resemble its children. Unlike the other Gundams, it has no transformation.  
  
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ESGW-08A Gundam Whiteflight  
  
(OZ-12SMS) (Taurus Prototype)  
  
Unit function: Space/Ariel Combat  
  
Head height: 17.3m  
  
Base weight: 8t  
  
Armor: Gundanium, Kevlar  
  
Designed: AC175, AC198  
  
Designer: J,G,S,H,O,HC, Lon Serman  
  
Pilot: Lucrezia Noin  
  
Armament: Beam Cannon, Beam Sabre (x2), Heat-Rod, Vulcan Gun (x2),  
Machine-Cannon (x2).  
  
Equipment: Plasma-Jet Engine (x2).  
  
Fighting Ability: 175  
  
Weapons Ability: 165  
  
Speed Ability: 190  
  
Power Ability: 140  
  
Armored Ability: 150  
  
Total: 820  
  
ESGW-08B Gundam Darkflight  
  
(OZ-12SMS) (Taurus Prototype)  
  
Unit function: Space/Ariel Combat  
  
Head height: 17.3m  
  
Base weight: 7.9t  
  
Armor: Gundanium, Kevlar  
  
Designed: AC175, AC198  
  
Designer: J,G,S,H,O,HC, Lon Serman  
  
Pilot: Hilde Schbeiker  
  
Armament: Variable Beam Scythe, Flamethrower (x4), Vulcan Gun (x2), Hyper Jammers (x2),  
Plasma-jet Engine (x2), CM Spines (x8).  
  
Fighting Ability: 170  
  
Weapons Ability: 160  
  
Speed Ability: 200  
  
Power Ability: 130  
  
Armored Ability: 150  
  
Total: 810  
  
History:  
  
As stated, the Gundam Engineers and Howard conceived a space-combat mobile- suit at the same time as they designed the Leo Prototype. The basic specification, outline diagram and preliminary blueprints of this machine were filed away with OZ but once again, each engineer retained a copy.  
  
Like the Tallgeese, this was to be a multi-purpose machine constructed of Gundanium, but was envisioned from the beginning as being weaker than its older brother, sacrificing speed and power but still remaining superior to most machines built after AC174. During the Tallgeese project, some of the scientists had come up with new ideas, which culminated in this design;  
  
G had come up with a system that used M-Particles to shield against his own beam weaponry, dubbing it the 'planet defensor'. Together, he and S had also come up with a new beam cannon design, less powerful that that on the Tallgeese (hence dubbed the mega-cannon), but still with devastating potential.  
  
Howard had also further refined his reactor-engine, and wished to implement this refinement in a new machine. Each of the other scientists contributed their substantial knowledge to designing a sturdy, powerful and adaptable MS for warfare in space.  
  
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NOTE: When conscripted by OZ to design a superior MS in AC195, the five scientists created the Gemini suits (Mercurius & Vayeate), claiming they were a hyper-upgrade of the then mass-produced OZ Taurus (I quote from the manga). In actuality, the scientists built a downgrade version of 'their' Taurus with certain weaknesses thrown in to fox OZ. For example, they split the planet defensor system from the beam cannon, under the pretext they were taking 'defence' and 'offence' to their limit, when their Taurus had been powerful enough to mount both. The beam cannon's internal reactor was also scrapped and replaced with a bulky 'backpack' unit which weighted the Vayeate down and made for a very tempting weak-spot.  
  
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As stated, Doctor Berg became chief engineer for OZ following the departure of the original six. After putting his Leo design into production in AC176, Berg initially sat back and enjoyed the ride as 'his' creations were supplied to the Alliance and began to dominate all walks of combat.  
  
The Romerfeller Foundation, constantly seeking to gain total control of the Earthsphere, began to realise OZ and the MS it produced were the key to rising its star. Using their wealth, they began to 'create' wars in troubled nations, anonymously supplying funds to rebel armies and stirring up anti-Alliance feeling. To combat this, the Alliance purchased more MS from OZ, and Romerfeller consequently pocketed the profit. Eventually the Foundation's powers grew to such an extent that it's members began to manipulate the Alliance.  
  
The first new MS development was the creation of new weapons systems and additions for the Leo. These ranged from new 'beam rifles' to 'beam cannon' shoulder attachments. Most notably, two backpack units were created to allow Leos to fly and take to space. Soon however, new environmental MS were required.  
  
The first was the OZ-07AMS Aires, an aerial unit mounted with fusion ramjet engines. Following this was the OZ-07MS Capricorn or Tragos, a land suit designed for artillery support. None of these machines were actually original designs of Berg's, most of the internals and system improvements being based on the last copy of Tallgeese blueprints he had found in the OZ files along with the specs for the space unit.  
  
By this point, Romerfeller had poured enough funds into OZ to allow it to take on a whole new bearing. OZ closed down all of it's non-MS related projects and began advanced training programmes for Alliance soldiers on the new MS. Soon, OZ was both part and not-part of the Alliance military; it's elite 'Specials' unit; like the SS in Nazi Germany, a state within a state.  
  
The only MS Berg ever built on his own was a failure in comparison to it's cousins. Though on paper the OZ-09MMS Pisces looked like an excellent Marine Mobile Suit, in actual combat it proved lacking.  
  
Berg had half-completed his downgrade of the space-unit (now the OZ-12SMS Taurus) blueprint when he was sacked by Romerfeller based on his substandard work. Berg left for space in AC183 with the last copies of the Tallgeese and Taurus blueprints.  
  
No new MS were actually developed by OZ and the position of Chief Engineer was discontinued until AC194 when a man named Tuberov was suggested to OZ by the Romerfeller Foundation to upgrade and possibly replace Berg's now outdated machines. Before OZ commander Treize Kushrenada fully entrusted Tuberov however, he commissioned him to do what Berg could not; built a useable Marine Mobile Suit; this work resulted in the successful OZ-08MMS Cancer.  
  
With Treize's blessing Tuberov quickly worked out what he was going to do. First he would complete Berg's half-finished work on the Taurus, which would serve to replace both Aires and Space Leo suits. Following this he would design a general purpose replacement for the Leo, then a suitable heavy-combat machine that would surpass the Tragos.  
  
This plan changed when he began experimenting with different cockpit systems for the unfinished Taurus. At this point, Tuberov hit on the idea of replacing the pilot with a computer. In the end the Taurus received this new system as well as a cockpit, but Tuberov subsequently put his Leo replacement on the back-burner and focused on developing his new heavy- combat Mobile Direct Operational Lead Labor, or MOBILE DOLL, the OZ-02MD Virgo I, II & III.  
  
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NOTE: Tuberov later did design a replacement MS for the Leo, but it never saw service in AC195. However the OZ-17MS Ophichus or Serpent did become the primary weapon of the Barton Foundation during their war of AC196.  
  
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The new Taurus quickly proved itself to be the most powerful machine in OZ's ranks, more than half as powerful as the Leo, Aires and Pisces. Though it had no built-in weapons, it was capable of mounting a beam cannon too powerful for the Leo to handle and had superior armour, speed and power to all other OZ suits. In the hands of a skilled pilot it was a force to be reckoned with. However, despite all of its benefits, it was still a downgrade from a superior design; had Tuberov been able to work from the same materials as Berg the Taurus could have been a match for any of the Gundams.  
  
This can be clearly seen in the two machines built by Lon Serman (building on Howard's blueprint) for female pilots Lucrezia Noin and Hilde Schbeiker. Trying his best to build machines that they would be comfortable in, he modified each to carry weapons similar to their male partners.  
  
Consequently, Noin's machine Whiteflight is the more powerful of the two, just like the Tallgeese is more powerful than the Deathscythe, but the difference is slight. This is because Serman used Darkflight as the test- bed for his new Kevlar armour process later duplicated on Wing Zero; though this cost Darkflight in terms of armour, it lightened it enough to make it significantly faster.  
  
Obviously their colouration is different, Whiteflight going for the same white-and blue as the Tallgeese3, Darkflight coloured in matt black with touches of navy and purple.  
  
Weapons are also different, Noin's machine carrying a heat-rod and beam- sabres identical to the Tallgeese 3's along with a hefty 'Vayeate' beam cannon as powerful as Wing Gabrielle's Buster Rifle, which is also self- powered. Serman also deliberately scrapped the 'planet defensors' on this suit to enable it to support such heavy weaponry.  
  
Darkflight on the other hand takes after Deathscythe, boasting a Twin-Beam Scythe (adjustable) and Hyper-Jammers. Unlike Deathscythe however, Hilde has a set of flamethrowers at her disposal, as well as a variant on the Planet Defensor system (see under Gundam Zenith).  
  
Both are fitted with Plasma-jet engines and resemble each other, having 'proper' Gundam legs instead of the aesthetically unpleasant legs of the Taurus and proper Gundam-style heads. Their bodywork is a mix between the sleek Taurus and the muscular Gemini suits, with a bit of the Tallgeese thrown in for good measure, creating a very happy aesthetic and mechanical balance.  
  
Despite their few shortcomings however, these are two very powerful and dextrous machines worthy of the title Gundam.  
  
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ESGW-09B Gundam Zenith  
  
(OZ-14MS) (Aquarius)  
  
Unit function: Anti-MD  
  
Head height: 17.4m  
  
Base weight: 8.2t  
  
Armour: Gundanium  
  
Designed: AC195  
  
Designer: OZ  
  
Pilot: Ann Une  
  
Armament: Heat-Rod, Beam Sabre (x2), CM Spines (x8), Vulcan Gun (x2).  
  
Equipment: Plasma-Jet Engine (x2).  
  
Fighting Ability: 170  
  
Weapons Ability: 150  
  
Speed Ability: 170  
  
Power Ability: 160  
  
Armored Ability: 140  
  
Total: 850  
  
History: During the conflicts of AC195, the ruling government of the Earthsphere underwent drastic changes. Initially, the Unified Earthsphere Alliance existed as a sort of new-age United Nations, but eventually became the ruling body with dominion over smaller 'independent' nations.  
  
Not long after the commencement of 'Operation Meteor', Trieze Kushrenada launched OZ's 'Operation Daybreak', initiated with the assassination of Pacifist Alliance leader General Noventa. In this coup, the government was liquidised, with OZ taking up the reins and beginning a programme of 'liberation' both on Earth and in the colonies. Daybreak was intended to be Romerfeller's ascension to power, but Treize was never one to submit to the corrupt Foundation that had put him in power. Later events saw Treize rise to control of the so-called 'World Nation', but prior to this he openly resigned from both his position in OZ and the Romerfeller Foundation.  
  
Upon this action Treize was imprisoned in a Romerfeller facility in Luxemburg, but had planned for this continuality. Ensuring that the base was staffed entirely with soldiers from the 'Treize Faction', he initiated his 'Excalibur Directive' a operation to produce an elite contingent of superior MS for the coming war.  
  
The name Excalibur was a reference to the sword of King Arthur, and the new machines were intended to conform with Trieze's ideals of knightly honour and chivalry on the battlefield. Though as stated the Tallgeese II and III were built at this time, the greatest weapons of the Excalibur Directive were the Sagittarius and Aquarius mobile suits, better known as the Gundams Epyon and Zenith.  
  
The names of these two Gundams are quite interesting. Epyon is derived from the fact that the machine operates on the EPYON (Emotion Process Yield & Omission Neural) System and the word Zenith is a play on the actual MS, for it represents the zenith, or 'peak' of twenty-years of MS development by 'Offensive Zenith' (OZ).  
  
These two suits were originally conceived as twins, but with the rising usage of Virgo MD, Treize decided to modify the Zenith as an anti-MD weapon. Consequently, the beam sword was removed and replaced with two beam sabres, allowing the M-Particle reactor output to be channelled to the Zenith's signature weapon, the CM Spines. These are slender rods which extend from the shoulders and arms. From them, a counter-minovsky field is projected, nullifying the planet defensors carried on the Mercurius MS and Virgo MD. This field can also be adapted to serve as a defence shield against beam attacks.  
  
The general concept was that Zenith and Epyon would double-team each other, Zenith forming the tip of the sword, disabling enemy defences, while the faster and deadlier Epyon streaks through wreaking havoc. With the engine upgrades made by Lon Serman along with the addition of Transformer technology however Zenith now excels the Epyon in all fields, and could beat it in a fight even though it does not boast the EPYON System.  
  
Officially the Zenith's pilot is Preventers commander Ann Une, though whether she can bring herself to pilot it based on her emotional attachment for the late General Kushrenada is questionable...  
  
END.  
  
If you've managed to read this far, congratulations! Hope you like these new mecha, and a similar set of profiles will later be posted for the new transformers created by...UNICRON!  
  
See ya' soon. 


	6. Tyrranicon Profiles & Glossary

MECHA PROFILES 2 & TRANSFORMERS GLOSSARY:  
  
Disclaimer: Though the following information is organised by me and supplemented by my ideas, none of the source material is mine. Ergo, I own none of this.  
  
A/N: What follows is first TF-Style profiles for the Tyrranicons, and then a glossary of Transformer Terms for GW fans, along with a shortened history of the TF universe.  
  
Enjoy! (And I love feedback, so get in touch.)  
  
TYRRANICON PROFILES.

GALVATRON:  
  
"Let the new world be born in the fires of war"  
  
FUNCTION: Overlord / Tyrant  
  
STRENGTH: 10 RANK: 10 COURAGE: 8 ENDURANCE: 10 FIREPOWER: 10 INTELLIGENCE: 10 SPEED: 9  
  
Weaponry: Plasma Cannon, Cyblade  
  
Voice Actor: Leonard Nimoy  
  
Forged not once, but twice in the fires of Unicron, Galvatron is a machine with a mission, though not the one his master plans.  
  
Galvatron once existed as an extremely intelligent and conniving Decepticon, a lieutenant of Skorpinok who joined a forbidden Cybertronian cult dedicated to the worship of Unicron and the overthrow of Primus and his children. Though he paid lip service to the fallen demi-god, this ambitious soldier's loyalty was always to himself, until he was captured.  
  
Court-martialled and sentenced to execution, the self-serving Decepticon swore himself to Unicron in a final desperate move, at which point he discovered, to his horror, that Unicron was very much real and holding him to his promise. He was reincarnated as Onslaught, and instructed by Unicron to seek out and destroy the two Transformer Matrixes. Leading the Combatacons and wielding the power of Bruticus, Onslaught rapidly rose through the ranks of the Decepticon militia through Megatron's war, until he was entombed within the Nemesis on Earth.  
  
After awakening, Onslaught made an ill-fated bit for power, which resulted in his seeming 'death'. Reaching out with a fraction of his power however, Unicron summoned forth Onslaught's spark, and fabricated him a new form, the apocalyptic Galvatron.  
  
WEAPONS: Galvatron's sports only two weapons, but they are more than effective. His main weapon is the Plasma Cannon, a sleek, deadly weapon that takes its power directly from the mystical energy at the heart of Unicron. Consequently, Galvatron can also feed on this dark energy, turning him into an unstoppable powerhouse. The cannon alone has the ability to render an entire planet uninhabitable with a single shot, an ability equal (in human terms) to the full power of the battleship Libra.  
  
Galvatron's only other weapon is a heavy broadsword - the Cyblade, but this weapon is more than mere steel. The centre is a thick Gundanium blade, and the razor-edge is maintained by a thin beam projection. The elaborate hilt is also crafted to resemble the sigil of the Decepticons. The Cyblade is so heavy, a normal Transformer would be required to use both hands to wield it, but Galvatron is strong enough to wield it one-handed.  
  
The Cyblade also has a curious past. In an infinite universe, all things are possible, including the existence of identical planets, and on two remarkably similar clones of Earth and Cybertron existed a legendary sword known as the Starsaber. Unicron retained this as a token of his victory when he consumed both worlds. It is this mythical sword, reforged that now rides on Galvatron's hip. (What this means is--ARMADA'S DEAD -- depending on your preference, rejoice or weep, I can't decide.)  
  
ABILITIES: Galvatron possesses all of Onslaught's cunning and intelligence, but is now endowed with power beyond comprehension. His physical strength could only be possibly matched by Optimus Prime or Megatron, and his firepower, as stated above is above and beyond any other Transformer or Human weaponry.  
  
Oddly for a transformer, Galvatron and all of his Tyrranicons do not require energon for their sustenance. Each contains a variety on the human's Minovsky fusion reactor, a design that intrigued Unicron for it's clean power and efficiency. The ability to generate great and varied 'beam weapons' also piqued his interest.  
  
Galvatron's transformation is an advanced artillery piece, which has advantage over his humanoid form in that it actually increases his firepower, by allowing his core reactor to link directly up to the cannon's firing mechanism. With a fair wind, Galvatron in this mode could seriously fracture a planet's crust.  
  
Galvatron's greatest strength, in all likeliness, is his own depth of thought. Though fully capable of making split-second choices, when allowed to plan ahead he is able to generate near-unbreakable strategies. There is a subtlety to his tactics and though processes that perhaps even Unicron does not comprehend, for though Galvatron is bound on pain of death to serve his master, he is not happy about it, and within him is the burning desire to subvert and ultimately destroy the one he calls 'master' -- for now.  
  
WEAKNESSES: When we hear about any, we'll let you know.CYCLONUS:  
  
"Life is a battle, and I am a warrior"  
  
FUNCTION: Aerospace Commander / Lieutenant  
  
STRENGTH: 7 RANK: 9 COURAGE: 10 ENDURANCE: 10 FIREPOWER: 8 INTELLIGENCE: 8 SPEED: 10 TOTAL: 62  
  
Weaponry: Beam Bayonet (x2), Homing Missile (x20), Plasma Bombardment, Wrist Harpoon  
  
Voice Actor: David Kaye  
  
Despite his demonic heritage and the undisputed evil he serves, Cyclonus is perhaps the most admirable of the Tyrranicons. Built on the remains of the Mercurius and the mind of Heero Yuy he is a soldier of principle; as he says a warrior.  
  
Though his personality was based on Heero's, without the harsh years of discipline the young pilot has endured he is more open in his emotions. Oddly enough he also has excellent leadership potential; being intelligent, resourceful, charismatic and fair-minded.  
  
WEAPONS: Like the legendary Wing Zero, Cyclonus carries an excellent balance of long, medium and short-range weaponry. Curiously, his primary weapon combines all three; the beam bayonet. Depending on the power setting these two weapons (which resembles the rail-gun carried by Command Units in Atari's Transformers game) fire a (combined) beam charge equal to the Twin Buster Rifle. The progressively lower the power setting, the weaker the charge. At the lowest setting, a containment matrix is generated that allows each bayonet to function as a large beam sabre.  
  
The plasma that powers these weapons can also be released from his aircraft mode as energy bombs, which on impact create extreme damage over a small radius. He also boasts homing missiles in his shoulders, and a pair of harpoons on his wrists, which can either be used as cutting tools, or fired at targets to reel them into range of his beam sabres, which he wields with the devastating skill of Heero Yuy.  
  
ABILITIES: Cyclonus is the fastest of all the Tyrranicons. His Alt. Mode is an advanced fighter/bomber hypersonic jet capable of 15,000mph.  
  
A/N. Cyclonus' jet mode is a cross between a C&C Generals Aurora Bomber, and Thunderbird 1, from the Universal motion picture 'Thunderbirds'. His robot mode is identical to Starscream's from 'The War Within', except with a different head, armament and colour scheme. His femme armada differ from him only in terms of size, armament and a lighter build in robot mode. However, in aircraft mode they are visibly smaller and sleeker, with cockpits mounted on the forward end of the nosecone instead of halfway back from the nose as with Cyclonus. He also has a set of canard stabilisers and extra engines unique to him.  
  
WEAKNESSES: Cyclonus's greatest weakness is perhaps his sense of decency. Though he is perfectly capable of ruthless behaviour to his perceived enemy, he will not kick them when they are down. Were he not above all loyal to Galvatron he would be an excellent part of the Autobot/Decepticon Alliance.ARMADA FEMMES:  
  
"Cross one of us, and all three of us come back in your face."  
  
FUNCTION: Aerospace Warriors STRENGTH: 7  
  
RANK: 7  
  
COURAGE: 9 ENDURANCE: 9 FIREPOWER: 7 INTELLIGENCE: 7 SPEED: 9 TOTAL: 55  
  
Weaponry: Beam Rifle (x2), Homing Missiles (x20), Beam Sabres (x2)  
  
Voice Actors: Athena Massey, Kari Wuhrer & Ashley Johnson  
  
"Sisters gotta stick together!" These three take that maxim to the limit. They seem inseparable, and when outside of combat pretty much are. However, Alpha, Beta and Gamma are more than capable of fighting and functioning independently.  
  
Their personalities vary, but they are happiest when together. Each however is brave, loyal, powerful and reliable, and all have a close relationship with their commander and 'big brother' Cyclonus, who they almost have as much affection for as themselves. He reciprocates the feeling to a lesser extend, but is not above sending them to die.  
  
WEAPONS: Each of this compact Armada carry a pair of beam rifles, sabres and the 20 missiles of Cyclonus. Unlike Cyclonus, they can fire their energy weapons when in aircraft mode, but lose the plasma bombardment ability. They also do not possess the wrist harpoons of Cyclonus.  
  
ABILITIES: Each femme can reach 12,000 mph in their fighter modes (identical to 'Thunderbird 1'). They are just as skilled with their beam sabres as Cyclonus, but fight with a lighter style than his powerful cuts and lunges.  
  
WEAKNESSES: The femmes are effectively 19-25 mental years old. Though responsible, they can get emotional, especially when one of their trio or Cyclonus is in danger. This concern can often reduce their combat skills. Also, their true loyalty is to Cyclonus, rather than Galvatron, and they share his sense of decency.SCOURGE:  
  
"Life and Death are but words to me"  
  
FUNCTION: Assassin / Lieutenant STRENGTH: 6 RANK: 8 COURAGE: 9  
  
ENDURANCE: 7  
  
FIREPOWER: 7 INTELLIGENCE: 10 SPEED: 9 TOTAL: 57  
  
Weaponry: Beam Sword, Heat Rod (x2), Active Cloak, Heat Claws (x10)  
  
Voice Actor: Ron Perlman  
  
Calm in the heat of battle, a master tactician, eloquent speaker and a consummate drinker of fine-grade energon. These qualities lend an aristocratic air to Scourge that hides his inner darkness.  
  
Scourge was generated from the torn remains of the Epyon, and it's mind warping system forms the very core of his mind. Unicron's power and skill created the perfect fusion of the Epyon System and Transformer consciousness making Scourge a powerful physcic, able to gaze into the future and the minds of others with equal ease.  
  
In battle, Scourge is an abomination of war. He delights in the cold- fuelled killing of others, and while fighting displays the chilling efficiency and near psychotic behaviour associated with the Wing Zero and Epyon. Despite this, he can return from a battle without a single scratch on him, leading some of the Tyrannicons to the fearsome conviction that Scourge is immortal.  
  
Cultured and sophisticated he is. But then, so was Bram Stoker's Dracula.  
  
WEAPONS: When Treize Kushrenada built the mighty Gundam Epyon, he removed all long- range weapons from the design with the exception of a pair of Vulcan guns built into the chest. Unicron took this philosophy of close-combat weapons to the limit with Scourge . Like the machine he was built on the remains of, Scourge sports a beam sword, but the single heat rod of Epyon's has been replaced by two, built into the arms rather than on removable shields.  
  
His wings function as shields in the same way as that of the Gundam Deathscythe Hell, able to fold around him like a cloak, which deflects both beam weapons and bullets, though it does restrict movement when deployed.  
  
Scourge's last, and perhaps most sinister weapon, is his bare hands. Though not the strongest of Decepticons, his sheer speed allows him to blast in and decimate. His claw-like fingers are heated in the style of Sandrock's heat shotels, allowing him to tear deep gouges through the most impregnable of armour, and even rip an enemy's body asunder.  
  
ABILITIES: Plasma-jets mounted in his legs give Scourge the ability to plough through air, water and space with dramatic speed. Though never tested to their full extent, he can easily outrun most starships and even make voyages between planets with ease.  
  
His alternate mode is styled after a Command & Conquer: Tiberium Sun Banshee aircraft, a ghostlike wraith that seems to appear from nowhere, wreak slaughter, and then vanish back into the darkness. The perfect form for such a mind. This deadly weapon is capable of reaching speeds of 10,000mph in sub-atmospheric flight, giving Scourge the ability to fly to any point on the Earth in two hours. In space combat, it is even faster.  
  
Unicron tapped some of the unknown potential of the Zero supercomputer when he created Scourge. His three wingmen, the Wraiths, are soulless machines; literal extensions of Scourge's mind. They fight with the same skill and ferocity as their master, but the sight of their dead, lifeless optics is enough to terrify any opponent to death. Even the other Tyrannicons harbour a secret dread of these zombies from the pits of hell.  
  
Despite this, Scourge's brain is a mine of untapped potential. Should he chose to put this computing power to use, then may there be mercy on us all...  
  
WEAKNESSES: Of the leading Tyrranicons, Scourge is the weakest and most fragile. However this is a weakness that cannot be exploited. In order to speed his self-repair systems, Scourge can drain energy directly from the shattered chassis of his victims via the vampiric fangs in his mouth.BATTLEMASTER:  
  
"I fight. It's that simple."  
  
FUNCTION: Elite Commander / Lieutenant STRENGTH: 10  
  
RANK: 8  
  
COURAGE: 9 ENDURANCE: 10 FIREPOWER: 10 INTELLIGENCE: 7 SPEED: 6 TOTAL: 60  
  
Weaponry: Particle Bazooka, Dual Gatling Cannon (x2), Flamethrower (x2), Heat Machete (x2), Beam Axe.  
  
Voice Actor: Eric Bana  
  
You hear that rumbling in the distance? That deep throated roar that sends chills down your spine? That's Battlemaster, professional soldier and looming death. Capable of collapsing mountains, cutting burning swathes through forests and reducing you and your entire species to easy to digest chunks.  
  
Basic tip; don't screw with this guy. He doesn't give a fk about you, your family or your planet. His one cause is the Tyrranicon cause and he uses all of his skills and weapons to further that.  
  
WEAPONS: Battlemaster has power to rival Galvatron. Based on the Gundam Heavyarms, he styles the same mix of light and heavy artillery.  
  
His long-range and most powerful weapon is his Particle Bazooka. How can someone summarise this weapon? You point it at whatever you want to kill and pull the trigger. BOOM! In appearance it is a long silver cannon mounted on his left upper arm, and at its maximum setting could blast a tunnel through the Alps that you could drive a tank through. The weapon can also adjust its barrel settings and consequently it's function, from bazooka, to cannon, to sniper-rifle.  
  
In a mocking homage to his inspiration, Unicron threw in a pair of back mounted Dual Gatling cannons which can be pivoted to fire forward, not requiring hands to pull the trigger.  
  
Supplementing these at medium range is a pair of plasma-fuelled flamethrowers, which could barbecue a slaughterhouse of cattle with one brief salvo.  
  
Unlike the Heavyarms series of mobile suits, Battlemaster is fully equipped for melee combat. A back-mounted rod opens up into a double bladed beam axe, which he swings to great effect while he holds a pair of gundanium machetes with a superheated edge  
  
ABILITIES: Battlemaster's transformation is an impressive Overlord Tank from Command & Conquer: Generals. Slow and heavy it may be, but this transformation makes him more than a force to be reckoned with. His robot mode is extremely similar to Generation 2 Megatron (the tank), but his chest is remodelled to resemble Heavyarms. Unlike either, his colour scheme is dark-red, jet-black and gold.  
  
His physical strength is almost on equal with his leader; he needs it to wield his heavy weaponry and is most likely capable of dismembering other Transformers and MS with ease.  
  
WEAKNESSES: Battlemaster is powerful, but his own armour and weapons can often slow him down. Like Heavyarms, his Gatling guns can also choose to run dry at the worst moment.RAPTOR:  
  
"Death is inescapable, so live hard and fast."  
  
FUNCTION: Elite Air Support STRENGTH: 6 RANK: 7 COURAGE: 10 ENDURANCE: 6 FIREPOWER: 7 INTELLIGENCE: 6 SPEED: 8 TOTAL: 50  
  
Weaponry: Vortex Rifle (x2), Wrist Blade (x2), Beam Sabre (x2).  
  
Voice Actor: Desmond Harrington  
  
Air support has always been provided by the Seeker Corps in the Decepticon military, and ever unit had at least one of these generic air warriors. Honouring this tradition, Unicron crafted Raptor; young, brash and arrogant.  
  
Still a highly effective fighter and the fastest in the Elites unit, Raptor is highly proud of his speed and skill, a pride only equalled by his exceeding confidence in himself. He is much like a product of a cross between the neurotic Starscream and his younger sibling Skywarp - talented, but with an ego to match.  
  
WEAPONS: Like all of the Elites, Raptor is outfitted with a weapon unique to himself - his Vortex Rifles are two arm-mounted weapons which as well as firing standard laser-blasts can also generate concussion blasts - which on impact generate a tiny 'black-hole' for a fraction of a second, effectively taking large chunks out of whatever they're fired at.  
  
Supplementing his prehistoric namesake, Raptor has a sharp pair of claws. These wrist-mounted blades can cut through any kind of armour weaker than Gundanium, or possibly thick Neo-Titanium. He also wields a pair of beam- sabres, though his combat style with them is effective - it is 'unrefined', composing of very simple swings and lunges.  
  
ABILITIES: The Latin 'Velociraptor' means 'fast bird-of-prey', and Raptor is just that. His Transformation is a Lockheed Blackbird Stealth fighter/bomber capable of speeds near equal to Scourge. His robot mode is similar to a generic Seeker, but is much cleaner. Clad in black and grey, many would think he is a ghost.  
  
A/N: Raptor is identical in terms of appearance and transformation to Starscream in Devil's Due Comic's GI Joe/Transformers crossover, the comic that inspired this fanfiction.  
  
WEAKNESSES: Raptor's weakness is his over-confidence, which can often lead him into biting off more than he can chew.SKYBLADE:  
  
"Creation and Destruction balance existence."  
  
Function: Elite Artillery Support, Soldier.  
  
STRENGTH: 6 RANK: 7 COURAGE: 8 ENDURANCE: 7 FIREPOWER: 7 INTELLIGENCE: 8 SPEED: 7  
  
TOTAL: 50  
  
Weaponry: Siege Cannon, Flak Cannon (x2), Bus-saw, Heat Blades (x2), Beam Sabre (x2).  
  
Voice Actor: Harrison Ford

Like Cyclonus, Skyblade is a soldier of principle. Though not as bound to principle and honour, he is above all, a decent guy. He's also gruff, in terms of personality the Kup or Ironhide of the Tyrranicons, always looking out for the interests of the younger soldiers. He's also powerful, but is restrained in wielding it, preferring to cause less than the required devastation rather than going for overkill.  
  
WEAPONS: On the long-range front, Skyblade's most powerful weapon is his Siege Cannon, a massive piece of ordinance with an elongated barrel, firing High Explosive shells. It's difficult for him to use this though in space or the air while a robot, due to the high recoil; he needs something to brace himself against. His other projectile weapon is a set of flak-cannons mounted in his torso.  
  
Skyblade shines in the melee department, perhaps not so much as his skill with it, but his versatility, able to use a variety of different bladed and energy weapons. On his right arm is a large bus-saw (the hub of his helicopter rotors), while the actual rotor blades, mounted on the left arm, can function either as stabbing tools or swords, along with his pair of beam sabres.  
  
ABILITIES: In the use of his weapons, Skyblade is the most precise. He might not be the fastest with his melee weapons, but he makes each shot, swipe or lung count. He also has the best eyesight at long ranges.  
  
Skyblade is also unique in that he is a triple-changer. He has two alt. forms of a transport helicopter, and a fixed artillery post. He is also useful to his comrades as he can mass-shift to transport several other Tyrranicons within him as a helicopter, making him an effective attack- platform in both of his alt. mode.  
  
A/N: Skyblade's robot mode is similar to the redesigned Seekers and Coneheads from the 'Devils Due' TF/GI Joe comic. His aircraft mode is also similar, but with the cannon and transformational abilities of the C Yuri's Revenge Siege Chopper. His colour scheme is primarily navy/dark blue armour with red trim. The unarmoured portions of his limbs are grey.  
  
WEAKNESSES: Skyblade's not as slow as Battlemaster, but not as fast as Raptor. He's not as powerful as Ajax, and not as under-armoured as Prism. He's general purpose, an all-around tough nut. He has his weaknesses, but its up to other combatants to find and exploit them.

AJAX:  
  
"Power is the ultimate end, the means is irrelevant."  
  
FUNCTION: Elite Powerhouse. STRENGTH: 6 RANK: 7 COURAGE: 5 ENDURANCE: 10 FIREPOWER: 9 INTELLIGENCE: 10  
  
SPEED: 5  
  
TOTAL: 50  
  
Weaponry: Solar Blaster, Concussion Hammer, Beam Sabre (x2).  
  
Voice Actor: Brian Cox  
  
Ajax gets what he wants, no matter the cost. Impatient to a fault, he trusts no one and prefers to fight alone. However his experimental weaponry has often backfired on his comrades. Lost lives are of no consequence to him as part of the process of developing superior weaponry and advancing his own power. Tenacious, battle-hardened and wielding incredible power, his core belief is that no one does it better than him.  
  
WEAPONS: When you look at Ajax, you think only one thing -'that is a fg big gun.' True. Ajax is proud to boast the largest weapon in the Tyrranicon forces; were not Galvatron's Plasma Cannon fuelled by Unicron it would also be the most powerful.  
  
The Solar Blaster is a giant cannon mounted on Ajax's shoulders but which requires a hand to brace it when firing due to the harsh recoil. Mounted in Ajax's core is an experimental Tritium/Deuterium fusion reactor, pioneered by human scientist Otto Octavius. The reaction however, is inherently unstable, but Unicron has turned this to Ajax's advantage by channelling the frequent power spikes into the Blaster's four storage capacitors, from where they are fired into the cannon's own reactor, triggering off a micro- supernova. The net result is that Ajax's cannon fires off controlled Solar Flares. When not working in conjunction with his own power source, the cannon fires a standard particle beam.  
  
Those solar flares can also be channelled into his other weapons, the Concussion Hammer and his beam sabres. The hammer is a giant weapon which when slammed into an enemy causes extensive damage, but can also release a concentrated flare from the reactor. Likewise the two beam sabres can benefit from this extra power; consequently they are the only yellow beam sabres known to exist.  
  
ABILITIES: Due to the tiny sun within him Ajax has an exceptional amount of power to spare, allowing him to fight on when others around him are waning.  
  
His transformation is a Nuke Cannon, the Command & Conquer, Generals weapon being ideally suited to his needs. The most dangerous artillery piece every created (with the exception of Galvatron), when in this mode Ajax's flares can be used to irradiate and destroy enemy targets from exceptional distance, the effect at Ground Zero being that of a low-yield atomic weapon.  
  
Among mechs, Ajax is rare in that he is totally shielded against all forms of radiation. Among the Elites he is also the most disturbing to look out, having no face or mouth, just a visor and a Zaku-like snout underneath, complete with piping (see Mobile Suit Gundam). In appearance Ajax is inspired by the Soviet Desolator Unit from C&C, Red Alert 2, hence his weapon of choice.  
  
A/N: As stated, Ajax is a cross between a Gundam Zeon Zaku MS, and a C&C Desolator. His primary feature as a robot is a large pair of frames rising from his back fitted with several pairs of wheels each. His alt, mode is not treaded. His colour scheme is grey and yellow, with hints of orange. As a cannon, he mainly looks grey, as a robot, yellow.  
  
WEAKNESSES: Ajax only really fights when the going's good. Also, despite his power he's relatively easy to defeat when fighting alone (as he chooses to do). His reduced speed makes it easy to avoid his hammer and sabre attacks, and extensive damage to his reactor forces him to shut it down and rely on his back-up reserves, which deplete rapidly.JUGGERNAUGHT:  
  
"Just give me a gun and point me at the enemy."  
  
FUNCTION: Elite Commando STRENGTH: 8 RANK: 7 COURAGE: 8 ENDURANCE: 8 FIREPOWER: 7 INTELLIGENCE: 6 SPEED: 6 TOTAL: 50  
  
Weaponry: Grazer Cannon (x2), Shoulder Gatlings (x2), Heat Tomahawk (x2), Beam Sabre (x2).  
  
Voice Actor: Campbell Lane  
  
Juggernaught ain't that fast, and he ain't that smart. He's a bit of a thug, and really only good and one thing, fighting! With this guy, never try to use tactics, they go straight over him. The best way to use him, as he said, is to point him toward the opponent and just let him mow them down.  
  
WEAPONS: Juggernaught mounts two large cannons on each arm. These Grazer Cannons are basically particle beam weapons which on firing create an earthquake within the target; whether it's a tract of land, a mech or your grandmother, they basically shake themselves apart.  
  
Supplementing this is a pair of shoulder artillery Gatlings mounted in the shoulders. Though identical to the standard Gatling gun, the barrels are shorn-off, reducing their effectiveness at long-range.  
  
Finally, he has a pair of Heat Tomahawks and two beam sabres, though he prefers to use the last to finish off targets with a skewering attack.  
  
ABILITIES: Overall, Juggernaught is similar in all regards to Battlemaster, so much that the Elite commander has even adopted him as a protege, though teaching this brute the finer points of strategy is difficult.  
  
In vehicle mode, he is a fusion of a C Red Alert 2 Apocalypse Tank and Grimlock from 'The War Within'. He also resembles Grimlock in robot mode. His colour scheme is military fatigues, varying tones of brown, green and black all over him.  
  
WEAKNESSES: Pick'n'mix from the following; low speed, very little finesse in combat, exceptionally low intelligence etc. Enemies should remember however that Juggernaught is exceptionally powerful, and if you are weaker than him, can still make your life a living hell regardless of how smart you are. His low intelligence can also make him reckless with his weapons and he has a high temper and very little restraint. Approach and engage with EXTREME caution.SPECTRUM:  
  
"This hand of mine burns with a divine radiance. It is your defeat."  
  
FUNCTION: Elite Infiltrator /Assassin STRENGTH: 5 RANK: 7 COURAGE: 7 ENDURANCE: 6 FIREPOWER: 7 INTELLIGENCE: 10 SPEED: 8 TOTAL: 50  
  
Weaponry: Energy Projectors (x2), Variable Beam Projectors (x2), Hyper- Jammers (x2), Grappling Hook (x2).  
  
Voice Actor: Andy Serkis  
  
"The preciousss. We want'sss it....We neeeeds it." Remember Gollum? This guy will remind you of him. Okay, he doesn't crawl about on all fours and he knows his grammar, but his voice and motions are disturbingly similar and he can often seem exceptionally sycophantic.  
  
WEAPONS: Spectrum harnesses the electrical output of his Minovsky reactor in a wholly unique way. Unicron tweaked the design to put out the maximum amount of beam energy and electricity possible. Electricity, which is channelled into the two projectors mounted behind and either side of his head. These can either output an exceptionally potent laser beam, or bolts of lightening. Highly effective.  
  
He doesn't technically carry beam sabres but his palms and inner fingers are mounted with beam projectors allowing him to shape all kinds of melee weapons and even put out medium-powered beam shots.  
  
ABILITIES: Spectrum is very good at sneaking around without making himself known. He's fast, nimble and very, very smart. He knows how to advance himself by presenting a loyal face to his commanders and a harmless, likable side to his allies. Inside however, he is devious and conniving.  
  
His alt-mode is a 4WD military vehicle, similar to a Humvee. Fast, light and manoeuvrable. In order to aid him with his infiltration skills, he mounts a pair of hyper-jammers, is stealth-plated, and possesses wrist- mounted grappling hooks to help him scale walls and buildings.  
  
The two energy projectors are mounted behind his cabin as a vehicle. They are identical to the projectors on C Red Alert 2 Prism Tanks, but they also have the abilities of Tesla Tanks/Coils/Troopers. They can also pivot to fire in both modes. He is also an excellent martial artist to make up for his lack of armour and physical strength.  
  
His robot mode is the shortest of the elites, and his colour scheme is varying tones of black and grey.  
  
WEAKNESSES: Spectrum looses armour for speed, one well-placed shot from MS like the Tallgeese or Wing Zero could finish him off. Hitting him is difficult however. However, no one can doubt his courage, or his skills at wielding his weapons.END OF BRIEFING.GLOSSARY:  
  
When I wrote the first set of Mecha Profiles, they inadvertently became a historical account for the AC Universe, explaining the history of OZ, MS, the Alliance and Rommerfeller. In order to make it fair on GW fans who may not know much about Transformers, I include here a glossary for all major TF-Universe words and an abbreviated history of Cybertron.These explanations are just the basics. I'll actually be expanding on this info in later chapters.  
  
NOTE: The following information is my fusion of various TF Comics, the TV Show and my own ideas. It is NOT cannon, just my own history for my own universe,PRIMUS.  
(prime-us)  
A deity worshipped by most Transformers, mistakenly hailing them as their creator; Primus is actually child and servant to a greater power. Known by different names, Primus is also worshipped on many other worlds, including Lithone and Earth.UNICRON.  
(yune-i-kron)  
Known also to several extra-terrestrial cultures as the 'Chaos Bringer', 'Devourer of Worlds', 'Great Devourer', 'God of Darkness', 'God of the Void', & 'The Fallen God.' Unicron is also known by various names on Earth. His full nature and power was unknown to nearly all Cybertronians prior to the Autobot/Decepticon Alliance and the Destruction of Cybertron.QUINTESSONS.  
(kwin-tess-on)  
Quintessa Vulgaris; a semi organic/mechanical species of various races, inhabitants of the planet Quintessa from which they extend a once giant empire, now shrivelled and weak. The master race has five mechanical faces on a rotating head above an egg-like body, from which many organic tentacles sprout. These tentacles are used like limbs. The body also projects an energy column, which it levitates on. The servant race is similar, but only has a single face and is smaller in proportions. All Quintessons worship Unicron.LEX.  
A language spoken by the Quintessons, the Lithonians (see below) and the first Cybertronians. Vector Sigma's programming is also encoded from the Lex. It has never been taught to younger Transformers however and is only spoken by Alpha Trion and Sunstorm (thanks to the supercomputer's parental influence).CYBERTRON.  
A planetoid smaller even than Earth's moon. The Quintessons used giant rocket engines to shift it into the orbit of the sun Alpha Centurai billions of years ago, before building on the asteroid, transforming it into a giant factory for a line of robots they were constructing for manual labour and military use. In order to further their usefulness these robots had the ability to shift from a humanoid guise to an alternate form, usually a weapon or construction tool, but also personal transports.  
  
Cybertron's equatorial circumference was approx. 2200 Earth miles. It had two moons (composed of waste material from Quintessonian excavations) the first approx. 400 Earth miles equatorial circumference, the second 250. There existed an artificially induced atmosphere similar to Earth's on all three globes in order to cater for the organic component of the Quintesson's bodies, but no weather and no individual climates. Due to the remote distance from its sun and the remarkably clear atmosphere, the planet existed in a perpetual night with rare exceptions depending on the angle of the planet to Alpha Centurai. Of course the many buildings that blanketed every inch of the planet provided enough light to create a semblance of day at the lower levels.  
  
After the War of Liberation, Cybertron developed further as an actual world rather than a largely automated factory. Though the planet was to an extend 'hollow', with sub-terrainean galleries extending right down into the core, few ventured underground, preferring to stay on the surface in the many city-states.  
  
The largest provinces were the equatorial (or Torus) states of Iacon, Protihex, Altihex, Uraya and Kalis, being the centres of Government, Commerce, Culture, Science and Industry respectively. Iacon, as Cybertron's capital, was centred right where the primary north-south line of magnetism bisected the Torus (the equivalent of the Greenwich Meridian meeting Earth's Equator). The centre of the city was also one of the most elevated points on Cybertron, the High Council Pavilions, a giant circular mesa that summated in an equally large plateau, on which was built the Forum of Enlightenment (see under Council of Elders). In actuality, the sloping sides of the High Council Pavilions were actually the elevated exhaust-port of the largest of the Planetary Engines, and the plateau a blast-door assembled and sealed over the gaping shaft by the Quintessons (for further information, see below).  
  
The Tri-Torus Highway connected Iacon, Protihex and Altihex, encompassing them in a giant loop. The Tri-Trous Loop also connected at its western arc to the Tygan span, the main transport link for the spaceports of the Praetorus Wharf and the scientific laboratories of Nova Cranium, the most prosperous region of Uraya. The Tygan route skirted north of Uraya before continuing through the massive Kalis district before re-connecting with the easternmost portion of the Tri-Torus Loop, making it possible to easily circumnavigate the planet.  
  
North and South existed the 'border states' of the Tagan Heights and Praxus, Praxus being the 'suburb' of the Torus States and the Tagan Heights containing the 40% of Industry not based in Kalis, which it touched with it's southern border. Extending north and south from Altihex were The Neutral Territories, zoned for settlement and private businesses.  
  
There were many other states of varying importance but only one other concerns the events of the 2nd Civil war. The southern polar state of Kaon was the location of the headquarters of the Decepticon military, the largest fortress-province being Kokular, right on the southern pole of magnetism.  
  
All of these provinces, and Cybertron itself however, were destroyed in the return of Unicron, sometime in the early AC Calendar.VECTOR SIGMA.  
The supercomputer installed in the exact centre of the planetoid named 'Cybertron' by the Quintessons to govern and operate the planet. In appearance it is a levitating golden sphere with a diameter in human terms of roughly forty feet. It looks like a giant disco-globe. By some freak, unexplained occurrence, Vector Sigma became sentient deca-vorns after installation, a gift it is said from Primus, for the Transformer deity was later known to speak-through the supercomputer, known to many as the 'Oracle'.ALPHA TRION.  
(al-fa try-on)  
Vector Sigma re-engineered one of the robots it was building for the Quintessons to grant it the same-self awareness itself had freakishly gained. The first Transformer - this robot later took on the name of Alpha Trion. Confused and alone, Trion fled into the core of Cybertron, where he stumbled across Vector Sigma, which granted to him the Matrix of Leadership and the Covenant of Primus.  
  
After a prolonged period under the spiritual tutelage of Vector Sigma, Trion elected to spread the gift of life with the other Quintessonian robots. In time, these 'first' Transformers formed the core of the Anti- Quintesson rebellion, and some of the most devout Primus-worshippers ever.MATRIX.  
The only confirmed Matrix in existence is the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, a multi-faceted crystal contained within a frame of Adamantium, though a myth prevails of a Decepticon Matrix of Power. The Matrix is presumed to be a storage device, as bearers are known to gain great wisdom upon receiving it, as well as a giant capacitor, which is capable of releasing massive amounts of energy of an unknown origin.COVENANT OF PRIMUS.  
The Transformer Bible, a data-track written by Vector Sigma and granted to Alpha Trion, who later tried to translate it from the Lex (see above) into the modern Cybertronian tongue, but was halted by the Council of Elders (see below) from translating the majority of the opening third, with most direct reference to Unicron deleted, leaving him simply as a fleeting evil presence. In order to achieve this Trion was forced to remove nearly all reference to a power higher than Primus. The net result is that most Transformers who learned their faith from the Covenant believe Primus is both their Creator and Guardian, and the vague 'Chaos Bringer' one of his weaker foes. The truth is radically different.  
  
_"The first sin was disobedience, and the fruit Of that temptation brought Chaos into creation, and all woe, Brought loss of peace, till one Greater Restore and regain the blissful state.  
  
Sing heavenly Muse, that in darkness has brought light: I thence Invoke thy aid to this adventurous song, while it purses Things unattempted yet in prose, Instruct me, for thou know'st.  
  
By this Covenant, inspired by ye and dictated by the Word That in dark birth brought hope, Illumine the upright and pure And justify the Divine to mortal life"._  
  
Foreword, by Vector Sigma to The Covenant of Primus. These three verses and many othrs were not translated into the standard text.RAKSHA.  
(rak-sha)  
The first military Transformers to be awoken by Alpha Trion, and the only of this creed to become a key member of the resistance against the Quintessons. Though Trion was aiming for pacifist action (comparable to Ghandi) as were many of the labour-developed robots, Raksha favoured the use of force to liberate Cybertron, and eventually led a great army and succeeded in that goal.  
  
In the time before the inevitable war however, Raksha segregated himself from the other Transformers by studying with great interest the Unicron- worshipping faith of the Quintessons, preferring their ideals of strength through power rather than the pacifist ideals of the Primus-devout. During a preliminary strike prior to the war on a party of Imperial Magistrates visiting from Quintessa, Raksha even captured one of this religion's icons, the Matrix of Power.  
  
After the Transformer victory, Raksha allowed his former core resistance members to go into government and went his own way, founding a compact military. Though he sided with the Quintessons in religious ideals, he still despised them as a race. The Decepticon (in the Lex, 'the Army of Cybertron') Military's numbers soon swelled into the ten thousands as the majority of the newly awakened military robots joined it. Hoping to convert recruits from Primus to Unicron (and even styling the sigil of his army after the sign of Unicron) Raksha was disgusted to find the majority unshakeable in their faith, but did mark down the ones willing to listen for prospective members of his own cult.  
  
This was established in secret after Raksha handed down Decepticon command to his successor, Thunderwing. Establishing a base of operations in an underground chamber near the Kalis/Neutral Territories border, Raksha and his followers made worship and often sacrifice to Unicron.  
  
Raksha led his cult, the Army of the Void while maintaining the outward air of a respectable recluse and occasionally appearing at public and religious festivals. However, his own 'leanings' on the latter subject could not remain hidden for long, and he was eventually tired and convicted for heresy and blasphemy by his former comrades, the Council of Elders, becoming one of the first Transformers to be executed at the 'Smelting Pools of Iacon'.  
  
So shocked were the council that Raksha had fallen so low they instantly began ensuring that such an incident would never happen again. Though well meant, the legislation they passed actually blinded the majority of Transformers to the true nature of both Primus and Unicron, as well as having other adverse effects (see below). As for Raksha, he was never again mentioned by name by the Council, referred to only as 'The Fallen'.COUNCIL OF ELDERS.  
Alpha Trion as the liberator of Transformers was begged by his people to establish the government after the war. He and the other twelve first Transformers founded the Council of Elders, a cross of the American Congress and the Catholic Vatican Cardinals, to both rule Cybertron and keep the faith of Primus alive. They were known amongst themselves as 'Autobots' (in the Lex, 'Children of Primus') and used a stylised version of the 'supposed' face of Primus as their sigil. During Skorpinok's war, the name and crest of Autobot was applied to all who fought against the Decepticons.  
  
The Council ruled Cybertron from the Forum of Enlightenment in Iacon City. Within the forum (comparable to the Houses of Parliament, the Capitol Building or the Kremlin), the actual ruling was conducted from the Chamber of Ancients.  
  
Trion left however after the council he had formed turned into something more akin to the Soviet Politburo, passing much repressive legislation with the revelation of Raksha's true allegiance (see above). Examples include preventing the passing on of the Lex and banning Trion from completely transcribing the Covenant in order to prevent Transformers learning of Unicron and possibly adopting the Quintesson faiths that worshipped him. The result of these polices however after many Mega-vorns was civil war between various Transformer factions.  
  
The Council of Elders was destroyed shortly after the commencement of the 2nd civil war along with the entire Forum of Enlightenment when Megatron II briefly tested the planetary engines that the Quintessons had used to manoeuvre the planetoid into orbit of Alpha Centurai. Co-incidentally, the Forum had been built over one of the exhaust shafts.PRIME.  
Transformers knew the bearer of the Matrix of Leadership as 'the Prime'. Alpha Trion was the exception, as he never actually integrated the Matrix into himself. Upon becoming the Prime bearers usually gain in both physical strength, intelligence and knowledge. The Prime, though not an actual leader, became the representative for the majority to the Council of Elders, and a sort of 'public figurehead' for the Government.  
  
In times of need however, the Prime has often been called into battle. Examples include his duties as 'Peacekeeper of Cybertron', settling disputes between factions. In both Civil Wars, the Primes were the actual battlefield commanders of the Autobots.  
  
The current Prime however, Optimus Prime, has had the full responsibility of power placed on his shoulders with the destruction of The Council of Elders (their final act before death had been to oversee the passing of the Matrix to him). In this however, Alpha Trion, who became a boundless wealth of wisdom, mental and spiritual support to the young leader, aided him.  
  
In recent months on Earth however, Optimus Prime has been able to relax. Though he mourns the loss of Cybertron, the easier command of less than thirty warriors has allowed him to spend more free time in the manner of his choosing, a favourite being cyber-poker with his former nemesis, Megatron.DECEPTICONS.  
(di-sep-ti-cons)  
Though Raksha had founded the Decepticons with the express purpose of furthering his 'Uncrowning' beliefs, after his resignation the army prospered under the admirable leadership of Thunderwing. This is often regarded as the finest age of the Decepticons; Thunderwing was a respected, cool-headed leader, but who was not above the use of force when necessary (as required when the Quintessons twice tried to retake their 'factory'). It is under his successor, Megatron I, that the rot of the Decepticons began.  
  
This Megatron was a member of Raksha's cult, and actively attempted to turn Decepticons into Unicron-worshippers. Though he was unsuccessful, he was able to begin to 'alter' the Decepticon's perception of Primus, from the (comparatively) Buddhist Autobot faith into something similar to National Socialism. Whereas the Autobots preached respect for all life and freedom of choice, the Decepticon's beliefs were twisted to the Darwinist concept of 'Survival of the fittest', along with the concept that ALL should worship their version of Primus and that Cybertron should be expanded into a vast Galactic Empire. This final cherry on the cake did not come about until Megatron II's rule however, and the 'corruption' of the Decepticons took that long as well. Megatron I was eventually executed like Raksha for his sins.  
  
The genealogy of the Decepticon command from this point onwards runs as thus;  
  
Raksha (resigned, then executed),  
Thunderwing (resigned),  
Megatron I (executed),  
Trypticon I (resigned),  
Bludgeon (resigned),  
Skorpinok (executed),  
Megatron II (active).  
  
Trypticon was a puppet of a fearful Autobot Council of Elders, so ineffectual that infighting began to occur WITHIN the Decepticons, and he was driven to resignation after a brief reign. The strong corrective measures of Decepticon-elected successor Bludgeon however restored the Decepticons to their glory. However by this time their belief system had differed from the Autobots enough to become an entirely different faith. Bludgeon's rule marked the beginning of Autobot/Decepticon conflicts, though harsh punishments were taken on those that actually provoked such 'dishonourable' actions. Such was Bludgeon's charisma and strength of will that his personal beliefs of Warrior's Honour became imprinted as firmly on the Decepticon mindset as a belief in Primus. In terms of popularity, the long-reigned Bludgeon is often ranked as high as Thunderwing.  
  
Without his guiding hand however, and in a time of relative peace, the Decepticons sank into idleness and internal rot; enough that his successor Skorpinok eventually attempted a coup against the Autobots. Though his execution by Megatron II, his right-hand repaired some of the damage, a firm divide had been driven between the Autobots and Decepticons.  
  
The ups and downs of Megatron's own reign are well documented, with the 2nd Civil War being the longest and bloodiest conflict ever waged on Cybertron. With the planet's own destruction however, the survivors of both sides have lost the object of their desire, and are now free to bridge the rift on Planet Earth.ARMY OF THE VOID.  
Raksha's Army of the Void (written in the Lex as Predicon), convened in their headquarters, known to them as 'the Well of All Sparks', with the sole purpose of releasing Unicron from the prison few knew he was bound in. To this end, they often made sacrifice on an alter designed to trap and store the energy from the dying Transformer's spark, the ultimate aim being to break 'The Seal of Primus', and restore Unicron to full, active life. This is how they deviated from the worship conducted by the Quintessons, who believed the best way to aid Unicron was to get different cultures to wipe each other out (hence their production of military robots for sale to warring factions on other worlds).  
  
After Raksha's death, membership of the cult waned without his charismatic leadership. Megatron I made a brief bid for control of the sect when he rose to command of the Decepticons, but was unsuccessful. He was however, the driving force behind the Army of the Void, and during the reigns of Trypticon, Bludgeon and Skorpinok, the cult gradually faded and withered until it was reduced to the level equal to an Earthen cult where all the members do is aspire to power and sniff glue.  
  
However, after Skorpinok's death, his left-hand Zarak, fleeing the wrath of Megatron II, stumbled across the Army of the Void and chose to join rather than contribute his spark to the 'Unbinding'. Realising this was the key to gaining the power he had craved; Zarak rose through the ranks in a manner equivalent to Hitler's bafflingly easy rise in the Nazi Party. Like Hitler, Zarak also had the ability to captivate the young and impressionable, and soon restored the cult to its former strength.  
  
After Zarak's own execution, by Megatron himself, his young recruits realised their fate was likely to be the same, and officially disbanded. The Well of Sparks was lit up one more time however by none other than Raksha himself during 'the Dark Ages' of the 2nd Civil War. Returned from the dead, armed with demonic power and going under the alias of 'The Fallen', Raksha seized the minds and hearts of three young cultists who aspired to wield the 'dark-power' vaguely hinted at by the Covenant of Primus. This 'Chaos Trinity', Bludgeon II, Bugly and Mindwipe helped Raksha gather the final four sparks necessary to complete 'The Unbinding'. Raksha succeeded in completing the ceremony, but was killed for the second time by an errant energy burst.  
  
Neither the second Bludgeon, Bugly nor Mindwipe were to fully realise what they had helped unleash, until the freed Unicron appeared and destroyed Cybertron. Though all three survived, it is doubtful they wish to carry on the faith they had blindly stumbled into. Meaning that the Army of the Void, is finally dead, at the cost of a destroyed Cybertron and an unleashed Unicron free to rampage across all existence...LITHONE.  
(li-fone)  
Like Cybertron, a planet populated by mechanical beings, but with a history far longer and a culture much deeper than that of the Transformers. The Lithonians also worship Primus, but have full access to the complete Covenant, so were fully aware of His and Unicron's true natures. Lithone however, was one of the first worlds to be consumed by Unicron upon the 'unbinding'. The one survivor, Kranix, has since been tracking the two Matrixes, each of which is key to the re-banishment of Unciron.END OF GLOSSARY:  
  
You liked? I'll be hearing in your reviews (I hope). Bye for now. 


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